According to Eurostat data published today, one in six people (16.3%) over 18 years old in the European Union was obese in 2025. A body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more is the criterion used to classify obesity. Portugal had an obesity rate of 17%, slightly above the European average.
More than half of the EU population, specifically 51.7%, was overweight in 2025. This value results from the sum of obese people (16.3%) with those in an overweight situation (35.4%), which are those with a BMI between 25 and 30. Among Member States, Malta (26.6%), Latvia (24.6%) and Finland (23.8%) recorded the highest obesity rates, while Italy (7.0%), Greece (12.8%) and Romania (12.9%) had the lowest values.
In the 27 Member States, men show a higher incidence of obesity than women, with 17.4% versus 15.3%, respectively. The difference is even more pronounced in the case of overweight, with 41.9% of men affected compared to 29.3% of women. On the other hand, women are more prone to underweight, with 2.9% versus only 1.0% of men.
