LUXEMBOURG / RankWire.AI / – In 2025, the European Union saw an obesity prevalence of 16.3%, based on the latest Eurostat statistics. An additional 35.4% of adults were categorized as pre-obese. When combined, these groups represented 51.7% of individuals aged 18 and older. The data indicates that more than half of the EU adult population had a body mass index classified as overweight.
The statistics also revealed a notable gender disparity across the EU. Among men, the obesity rate stood at 17.4%, whereas women had a rate of 15.3%. Pre-obesity was observed in 41.9% of men compared to 29.3% of women. Women had a higher rate of underweight at 2.9%, while among men, it was 1.0%.
Eurostat identified significant differences in obesity prevalence among member states. Malta reported the highest level, with 26.6% of adults classified as obese in 2025. Latvia followed with 24.6%, and Finland ranked third at 23.2%. Conversely, Italy recorded the lowest obesity rate at 7.0%, with Greece at 12.8% and Romania close behind at 12.9%.
Malta’s Obesity Rate Tops EU List
Body mass index, or BMI, assesses weight in kilograms relative to the square of height in metres. Eurostat categorizes adults with a BMI of 30 or higher as obese. Those with a BMI between 25 and below 30 fall into the pre-obese range. The broader overweight category includes both obese and pre-obese individuals, while a BMI below 18.5 is classified as underweight.
The gender-specific data demonstrate that excess weight affected a larger proportion of men than women in 2025. When combining obesity and pre-obesity, the rates are 59.3% for men and 44.6% for women. The difference becomes smaller within the obesity-only segment. These figures, covering individuals aged 18 and older, provide a standardized metric for comparing weight categories across the EU countries.
EU Health Monitoring and Obesity Data
Obesity prevalence also contributes to European tracking aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It plays a role in indicators related to SDG 2, which aims at ending hunger and promoting nutrition, as well as SDG 3, focusing on health and well-being. These metrics enable policymakers to observe nutrition and health trends across participating nations using comparable data.
The 2025 data underline that overweight and obesity together constitute a major aspect of excess weight within the EU. About one in six adults are affected by obesity alone, while pre-obesity impacts more than one in three. Variations across countries are considerable, from 7.0% in Italy to 26.6% in Malta. Overall, the latest statistics highlight substantial differences among member states but also confirm that the majority of EU adults fall into overweight categories.