Adult obesity (i09)
- 31/10/2025
- objective
- assessment assessment
In 2023, 17% of the adult population in Belgium recorded a body mass index higher than or equal to 30. To achieve the sustainable development goal by 2030, this figure must decrease. Between 2001 and 2023, the trend is unfavourable (assessment of November 2025).
Adult obesity - Belgium
percentage of population aged 18 and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2023 | 2023//1997 | 2023//2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 10.8 | 12.1 | 12.6 | 13.8 | 13.7 | 15.8 | 17.0 | 1.8 | 1.5 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
Note: The 95% confidence interval for the share of obese adults in 2023 is 15,8% to 18,3% for Belgium.
Source: Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Adult obesity by region - Belgium
percentage of population aged 18 and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2023 | 2023//1997 | 2023//2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels-Capital Region | 9.2 | 11.8 | 10.2 | 11.9 | 12.8 | 13.7 | 13.6 | 1.5 | -0.1 |
| Flemish Region | 9.6 | 10.9 | 11.5 | 13.6 | 12.6 | 14.9 | 16.6 | 2.1 | 2.2 |
| Walloon Region | 13.7 | 14.3 | 15.3 | 14.6 | 16.0 | 17.9 | 19.0 | 1.3 | 1.2 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
Note: The 95% confidence interval for the share of obese adults in 2023 is 11,2% to 16,1% for Brussels, 15,2% to 18,1% for Flanders and 16,2% to 21,8% for Wallonia.
Source: Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Adult obesity by sex - Belgium
percentage of population aged 18 and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2023 | 2023//1997 | 2023//2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| females | 10.5 | 12.7 | 13.4 | 14.4 | 13.8 | 15.0 | 17.2 | 1.9 | 2.8 |
| males | 11.2 | 11.5 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 13.6 | 16.7 | 16.9 | 1.6 | 0.2 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
Source: Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Adult obesity by education - Belgium
percentage of population aged 18 and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2023 | 2023//1997 | 2023//2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| primary education | 18.3 | 19.9 | 19.0 | 19.1 | 25.3 | 21.8 | -- | -- | -- |
| lower secondary education | 12.2 | 18.0 | 18.7 | 19.6 | 21.6 | 22.3 | 23.7 | 2.6 | 1.2 |
| higher secondary education | 11.2 | 11.7 | 12.6 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 17.4 | 19.8 | 2.2 | 2.6 |
| higher education | 6.8 | 6.2 | 7.4 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 12.1 | 13.1 | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
Note: In 2023 there are no data for primary education.
Source: Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Adult obesity by income - Belgium
percentage of population aged 18 and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2023 | 2023//1997 | 2023//2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| quintile 1 | 12.5 | 13.8 | 14.5 | 17.7 | 17.7 | 18.8 | 19.5 | 1.7 | 0.7 |
| quintile 2 | 12.0 | 15.8 | 14.9 | 17.4 | 19.4 | 20.1 | 17.7 | 1.5 | -2.5 |
| quintile 3 | 12.7 | 16.3 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 12.6 | 15.6 | 18.6 | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| quintile 4 | 9.2 | 8.1 | 10.5 | 12.7 | 12.6 | 14.6 | 17.7 | 2.5 | 3.9 |
| quintile 5 | 7.7 | 9.2 | 8.0 | 10.6 | 10.0 | 11.3 | 13.2 | 2.1 | 3.2 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
Source: Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Definition: obesity corresponds to a body mass index higher than or equal to 30. This indicator corresponds to the share of obese people in the adult population (aged 18 years and over). The body mass index (or BMI) is an anthropometric measurement that is calculated as the relationship between the weight in kilograms and the square of the body height in meters. The BMI is correlated with the body fat percentage of an adult (Eurostat, 2008). Obese people run a higher risk of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and certain forms of cancer (WHO, 2015). The following breakdowns are available for this indicator: region, sex, education and income.
The data come from the national health surveys carried out by the Scientific Institute of Public Health/Sciensano for Belgium. The data for the international comparison come from Eurostat. Eurostat's SDG monitoring indicator combines two different sources: data from health surveys and data from EU-SILC surveys. To be consistent with the data used for Belgium, only data from health surveys are used for the international comparison. Since these data are based on a survey, a margin of uncertainty has to be taken into account. This margin of uncertainty increases as the indicator is calculated on smaller sub-populations. The confidence intervals are available on the Sciensano website.
Goal: the share of obese adults must decrease.
The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 2.2: “By 2030 end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving by 2025 the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons”.
The Federal Long-Term Strategic Vision for Sustainable Development contains objective 7: “The morbity/mortality due to chronic diseases should be reduced” (Belgian Official Gazette, 08/10/2013). Since obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and different forms of cancer, the share of obese adults must decrease to move towards the goal.
UN indicator: the selected indicator does not correspond to any monitoring indicator for the SDGs but is related to target 2.2. The indicators that are presented for the follow-up of the SDGs are indeed not adapted to the Belgian situation (2.2.1 Prevalence of stunting (...) among children under 5 years of age) or are not followed up by Belgium (2.2.2. Prevalence of malnutrition (...) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight). Adult obesity is the consequence of a form of malnutrition and a relevant problem in Belgium. This problem has been chosen to follow up malnutrition in Belgium.
Sources
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Belgian Official Gazette: http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/welcome.pl; research on http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/doc/rech_f.htm (consulted on 24/09/2020).
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Eurostat (2021), Obesity rate by body mass index (BMI), SDG_02_10, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ (consulted on 03/11/2021).
- WHO (2015), Obesity and overweight. Fact sheet N°311, http://www.who.int.
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