LUXEMBOURG / RankWire.AI / – Obesity affected 16.3% of European Union adults in 2025, according to Eurostat data. Another 35.4% of adults fell within the pre-obese category. Together, those groups represented 51.7% of people aged 18 and older. The figures mean excess weight affected more than half of the EU adult population. Eurostat uses body mass index, or BMI, to compare weight categories across participating countries.
Men recorded higher rates of both obesity and pre-obesity than women. The obesity rate reached 17.4% for men, compared with 15.3% for women. Pre-obesity affected 41.9% of men and 29.3% of women. Combining the two categories gives an overweight rate of 59.3% among men. The comparable figure for women stood at 44.6%. Underweight was more common among women, at 2.9%, compared with 1.0% among men.
National results showed a wide spread across EU member states. Malta posted the highest obesity rate at 26.6% of adults. Latvia followed with 24.6%, while Finland recorded 23.2%. Italy had the lowest rate at 7.0%. Greece reported 12.8%, and Romania recorded 12.9%. The country figures show a gap of almost 20 percentage points between Malta and Italy, the highest and lowest rates in the dataset.
Malta leads EU obesity rankings
BMI compares a person’s weight in kilograms with the square of height in metres. A BMI of 30 or above falls within the obesity category. A reading from 25 to below 30 places an adult in the pre-obese group. The broader overweight measure combines both categories. A BMI below 18.5 falls within the underweight range. These thresholds provide a common statistical basis for comparing adult weight levels across EU countries.
The 2025 data also show that pre-obesity remained more common than obesity across the adult population. More than one in three adults fell into the pre-obese group. About one in six adults met the obesity threshold. The combined total pushed the EU overweight share above 50%. The gender breakdown widened that picture, with men showing notably higher pre-obesity levels. The difference in obesity rates between men and women was smaller.
EU tracks obesity within health goals
The obesity indicator also supports European monitoring of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It contributes to tracking SDG 2, which covers hunger, food security and improved nutrition. The measure also relates to SDG 3, which focuses on health and well-being. Using common BMI categories allows countries to compare adult weight patterns over time. It also provides a consistent statistical measure across national populations within the European Union.
The 2025 results place excess weight among the most widespread weight categories across EU adults. Obesity alone affected 16.3%, while pre-obesity accounted for another 35.4%. Malta, Latvia and Finland recorded the three highest obesity rates in the bloc. Italy, Greece and Romania reported the three lowest. Across the EU, the figures show substantial national variation while confirming that overweight categories together covered a majority of the adult population.