Child Welfare · Africa ranking
Overweight Children by African country
Tunisia has the highest overweight prevalence among children under 5 of any African country, at 17.2% — 1.3× Algeria's 12.8%.
Share of children under 5 who are overweight (weight-for-height above two standard deviations). 54 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2018.
Latest available year varies by country (1995–2024); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
Tunisia
Algeria
MoroccoBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Overweight Children | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tunisia | 17.2% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 2 | Algeria | 12.8% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 3 | Morocco | 12.7% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 4 | South Africa | 11.8% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 5 | Cameroon | 11% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 6 | Seychelles | 10.2% ⚠ ’12 | |
| 7 | Egypt | 10.1% | |
| 8 | Botswana | 10% ⚠ ’07 | |
| 9 | Eswatini | 9.8% | |
| 10 | Equatorial Guinea | 9.7% ⚠ ’11 | |
| 11 | Lesotho | 7.7% | |
| 12 | Mauritius | 6.5% ⚠ ’95 | |
| 13 | Cabo Verde | 6.1% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 14 | South Sudan | 6% ⚠ ’10 | |
| 15 | Republic of the Congo | 5.9% ⚠ ’14 | |
| 16 | Rwanda | 5.6% | |
| 17 | Zambia | 5.2% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 18 | Gabon | 5% | |
| 19 | Libya | 4.6% | |
| 20 | Sao Tome and Principe | 4.5% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 21 | Liberia | 4.4% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 22 | Malawi | 4.4% | |
| 23 | Zimbabwe | 4.3% | |
| 24 | Djibouti | 4.2% | |
| 25 | Comoros | 4% | |
| 26 | Namibia | 4% ⚠ ’13 | |
| 27 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 3.8% | |
| 28 | Tanzania | 3.7% | |
| 29 | Angola | 3.4% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 30 | Cote d'Ivoire | 3.4% | |
| 31 | Kenya | 3.4% | |
| 32 | Uganda | 3.4% | |
| 33 | Guinea | 3.3% | |
| 34 | Mozambique | 3.2% | |
| 35 | Somalia | 3% ⚠ ’09 | |
| 36 | Sudan | 3% ⚠ ’14 | |
| 37 | Benin | 2.9% | |
| 38 | Sierra Leone | 2.8% | |
| 39 | Ethiopia | 2.3% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 40 | Chad | 2.2% | |
| 41 | Guinea-Bissau | 2.2% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 42 | Eritrea | 2.1% ⚠ ’10 | |
| 43 | Gambia | 2.1% | |
| 44 | Ghana | 2% | |
| 45 | Madagascar | 1.9% | |
| 46 | Burkina Faso | 1.5% | |
| 47 | Burundi | 1.5% | |
| 48 | Central African Republic | 1.5% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 49 | Nigeria | 1.5% | |
| 50 | Togo | 1.5% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 51 | Mali | 1.4% | |
| 52 | Niger | 1.2% | |
| 53 | Senegal | 1.1% | |
| 54 | Mauritania | 1% |
South Africa
Cameroon
Seychelles
Egypt
Botswana
Eswatini
Equatorial Guinea
Lesotho
Mauritius
Cabo Verde
South Sudan
Republic of the Congo
Rwanda
Zambia
Gabon
Libya
Sao Tome and Principe
Liberia
Malawi
Zimbabwe
Djibouti
Comoros
Namibia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Tanzania
Angola
Cote d'Ivoire
Kenya
Uganda
Guinea
Mozambique
Somalia
Sudan
Benin
Sierra Leone
Ethiopia
Chad
Guinea-Bissau
Eritrea
Gambia
Ghana
Madagascar
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Central African Republic
Nigeria
Togo
Mali
Niger
Senegal
MauritaniaGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Overweight Children figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=child_overweight_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2018. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest overweight prevalence among children under 5?
Tunisia has the highest overweight prevalence among children under 5 in Africa at 17.2% (2018), followed by Algeria and Morocco.
Which African country has the lowest overweight prevalence among children under 5?
Mauritania has the lowest overweight prevalence among children under 5 of the 54 African countries with data, at 1% (2021).
How many African countries report Overweight Children data?
54 of 54 African countries have a Overweight Children figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 1995–2024). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=child_overweight_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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