20 Most Obese Developed Countries in the World

Published on April 25, 2023 at 2:27 pm by Ramish Cheema in Lists, News, Tech

In this piece, we will take a look at the 20 most obese developed countries in the world. For more countries, head on over to 5 Most Obese Developed Countries in the World.

While not commonly thought of this way, obesity is a disease that is also one of the deadliest in the world. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that almost three million people die from being obese each year, which is surprising since obesity is generally thought of as being overweight. Well, the definition for obesity, according to the WHO, is when an adult person’s body mass index (BMI) is greater than thirty. BMI is simply the weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared.

The WHO adds that obesity results in a variety of more serious medical complications, some of which are lifelong diseases. These include diabetes and cancer, as well as arthritis and heart disease. On this front, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) agrees with the WHO, as it also outlines that obesity leads to serious diseases. The UCSF narrows its attention to the U.S. as it shares that in America, 280,000 people die from obesity annually. It adds that apart from physical diseases, obese people often suffer from societal alienation, which breeds mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety to further reduce their quality of life.

As is the case with any societal or health issue that impacts people’s productivity (for instance the discrimination faced by gay people), being obese also reduces one’s productivity. For obesity, these economic costs are quite stunning if you haven’t previously come across them. Estimates by the World Obesity Federation, a British charity, show that the economic impact of being overweight and obese can cross a whopping $4 trillion by 2035. This is equivalent to three percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) and also mirrors the economic devastation ushered in by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Federation’s World Obesity Atlas report also shares that the growth in obesity in children is also picking up the pace, with 100% more boys expected to be obese by 2035 met by an even higher 175% of girls. In terms of people, this implies that there could be 208 million obese boys and 175 million obese girls in the world during the forecast period. Geographically speaking, while the Western world (particularly America) is often thought to be more obese due to junk and fast food being readily available, the Obesity Federation believes that growth in obese people will actually come from lower income countries. Nine of the ten countries where obesity is expected to grow the most are lower or middle income countries and all of these are in Asia or Africa.

Building on this, there are several industries that have formed around both helping obese people live their lives and potentially treating the deadly disease that reduces their quality of life and places them at risk for deadly diseases. On this front, a research report from Vantage Market Research takes a look at the global obesity management market. It outlines that this industry was worth $11.6 billion last year and will grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.30% until 2030to be worth an estimated $38.95 billion by the end of the forecast period. The research firm adds that a global sedentary lifestyle will stimulate demand while the high costs of research and development will be headwinds to the market. Another report, this time from Market Research Future shares that the obesity treatment market will grow by a 16.7% CAGR to sit at $31.7 billion by the end of 2032.

Additionally, these days drugs to treat obesity are all that anyone can talk about. Some of the most popular ones are similar to diabetes medication as they control the levels of blood sugar and insulin in the body. One category of these drugs are part of the Semaglutide family, initially used to manage diabetes. Two of its variants are Ozempic and Wegovy, and Ozempic is not approved for obesity management. However, Wegovy was approved last year and is sold by Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO). One surprising user who has benefited from Wegovy is the Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) billionaire Mr. Elon Musk, who shared in October last year that Wegovy helped him get in shape. Another drug that works similarly, is currently approved only for diabetes, and might be approved for obesity is Tirzepatide (generic name). This drug is currently sold as Mounjaro by Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY).

Obesity treatments and surgeries are also on the radar of big pharma, with the healthcare giant Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) currently on target to acquire Apollo Endosurgery – a firm that makes surgical products to enable obese people to lose weight. At Boston’s fourth quarter of 2022 earnings conference, management commented on the deal and shared:

So on Apollo Endosurgery overall, it’s really consistent with our overall strategy of category leadership, which is driving above-market growth and continuing to advance new therapies where we can be the leader. When we look at endoluminal surgery, we think that is really the next frontier for our endo business. And you see a terrific uptake of endoluminal surgery, I would say, outside the U.S., particularly in Japan, a bit more so in Europe and less so in U.S. And so we think endoluminal surgery will really continue to build momentum over the next coming years and Apollo is a platform that’s most used by physicians pick outside the U.S. to perform these procedures with a product called OverStitch and xTAC.

So we think the addition of Apollo into our current platform will obviously make us the number one strongest endoluminal surgery portfolio, but also put us in a position, as Dr. Duncan would say, to help train the field because these are procedures that require significant physician training to get great outcomes, and we’ll be able to do that with the Apollo platform.

With these details in mind, let’s take a look at the most obese developed countries in the world.

20 Most Obese Developed Countries in the World

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the most obese developed countries we used data from the World Obesity Federation to pick out the percentage of adult males that are obese out of the total population. The countries selected according to the IMF’s database and are ranked through this percentage and the most obese developed countries in the world are presented below. While Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, it is still included due to high levels of obesity.

20 Most Obese Developed Countries in the World

20. Kingdom of Belgium

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 23.99%

The Kingdom of Belgium, or simply Belgium, is a prosperous European nation. It has a $723 billion GDP and a per capita income of $62,065.

19. Kingdom of Norway

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 24.49%

The Kingdom of Norway is a Nordic European country. It has a $425 billion GDP and one of the highest per capita incomes in the world at $78,128.

18. Finland

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 24.62%

Finland is another Nordic European country. It is one of the oldest regions in the world, having first been settled in 9,000 BC. Finland has a diversified economy relying on both primary and secondary products for exports.

17. Republic of Lithuania

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.01

The Republic of Lithuania is a Baltic European country. It has a $132 billion GDP and a $47,107 per capita income, which makes it rank among the top fifty countries in the world.

16. Hellenic Republic

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.04%

The Hellenic Republic, commonly known as Greece is the cradle of modern day civilization. Its history is thought to date hundreds of thousands of years ago.

15. Federal Republic of Germany

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.04%

The Federal Republic of Germany, or simply Germany, is a European economic powerhouse and the largest economy on the continent. It is also one of the most obese developed countries in the world.

14. Iceland

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.11%

Iceland is a European Nordic island nation. It is one of the smallest countries in the world in terms of landmass and has a $25 billion economy.

13. Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.38%

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, commonly known as Luxembourg, is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. It has a $140,694 per capita income in purchasing power parity terms, which is the highest in the world.

12. Kingdom of Spain

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.49%

The Kingdom of Spain is a prosperous European country and a former colonial power. It has a $2.2 trillion economy with a per capita income of $46,511, but more than a quarter of Spanish adult males are obese. This makes it a developed yet obese country.

11. Republic of Ireland

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.97%

The Republic of Ireland is a European Ireland nation that shares a border with the U.K. Its PPP per capita income of $124,596 is one of the highest in the world.

10. Principality of Andorra

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 26.75%

The Principality of Andorra is one of the smallest countries in Europe. Despite this, it has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world at $41,900 and is also one of the most obese countries on the planet.

9. State of Israel

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 26.82%

The State of Israel, commonly known as Israel, is a Middle Eastern country. One of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, Israel has a $533 billion GDP.

8. Czech Republic

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 27.32%

The Czech Republic is a landlocked Central European country. It has a $509 billion GDP and a GDP per capita of $47,527. Czechia also often has some of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU.

7. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 27.88%

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or the U.K., is another prosperous European nation and a great power in global politics. Almost a third of British adult men are obese though, which makes it one of the most developed yet obese countries.