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← Episode 2: L-Obeżità f'Malta
Episode 2 · 5 October 2026
The claim

Around 26% of the Maltese are obese. Not overweight, obese. If we add the overweight as well, according to WHO, the rate would go up by 35.7%.

Russell Sammut

Verdict True

Both numbers match Eurostat's 2025 figures: 26.6% of adults in Malta are obese, the highest rate in the EU, and another 35.7% are overweight, for a total of 62.3%. The figures are Eurostat's rather than the WHO's, though Eurostat uses the WHO's definitions.How we reached this verdict ↓

Analysis and evaluation

Both of the speaker's numbers match Eurostat's 2025 data to the decimal point: 26.6% of adults in Malta are obese and another 35.7% are overweight.

Malta has the highest obesity rate in the EU

In figures released on 4 September 2026, Eurostat put the share of adults in Malta with a BMI of 30 or more at 26.6% in 2025. That is the highest rate in the EU, ahead of Latvia (24.6%) and Finland (23.2%), and well above the EU average of 16.3%. Italy has the lowest, at 7.0%. Eurostat's European Health Interview Survey gave Malta 26.0% in 2014, also the highest in the EU.

Adult obesity rate in every EU country, 2025 Bar chart of adult obesity in 2025 for all 27 EU countries, highest first: Malta 26.6%; Latvia 24.6%; Finland 23.2%; Ireland 22.1%; Estonia 22.0%; Lithuania 21.5%; Czechia 21.1%; Hungary 20.9%; Germany 20.8%; Denmark 20.5%; Poland 19.4%; Slovenia 18.6%; Slovakia 17.7%; Austria 17.6%; Sweden 17.5%; Portugal 17.0%; Belgium 16.8%; Croatia 16.5%; France 16.3%; Luxembourg 16.3%; EU average 16.3%; Cyprus 15.5%; Bulgaria 15.4%; Netherlands 15.0%; Spain 14.9%; Romania 12.9%; Greece 12.8%; Italy 7.0%. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% Malta 26.6% Latvia 24.6% Finland 23.2% Ireland 22.1% Estonia 22.0% Lithuania 21.5% Czechia 21.1% Hungary 20.9% Germany 20.8% Denmark 20.5% Poland 19.4% Slovenia 18.6% Slovakia 17.7% Austria 17.6% Sweden 17.5% Portugal 17.0% Belgium 16.8% Croatia 16.5% France 16.3% Luxembourg 16.3% EU average 16.3% Cyprus 15.5% Bulgaria 15.4% Netherlands 15.0% Spain 14.9% Romania 12.9% Greece 12.8% Italy 7.0%
Under 15%15% to 20%20% to 25%25% or more
Share of adults aged 18 and over with a BMI of 30 or more, self-reported, 2025. Source: Eurostat, dataset sdg_02_10 (EU-SILC).

Both surveys rely on people reporting their own height and weight, and people tend to under-report weight. Surveys that weigh people directly find more obesity. SAHHTEK, a national survey run by the University of Malta between 2014 and 2016, measured adults aged 18 to 70 and found 34.1% obese.

Adding the overweight takes the total past 60%

The EU and the WHO both define "overweight" as a BMI of 25 or more, which includes the obese. The band between 25 and 30, which the speaker adds on top, is what Eurostat calls "pre-obese".

Eurostat puts Malta's pre-obese share at 35.7% in 2025, the figure the speaker gave. Together with the obese, 62.3% of adults in Malta are overweight or obese, level with Romania for the highest share in the EU, against an EU average of 51.7%. SAHHTEK measured 35.65% in the pre-obese band, almost the same, for a combined 69.75%.

Share of adults who are obese or overweight, Malta and the EU Stacked bars. The claim as stated 26 plus 35.7, total 61.7. Eurostat Malta 2025 26.6 plus 35.7, total 62.3. WHO modelled Malta 2024 30.6 plus 32.6, total 63.2. SAHHTEK measured 2014 to 2016 34.1 plus 35.7, total 69.8. EU average 2025 16.3 plus 35.4, total 51.7. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% The claim as stated Russell Sammut 26 35.7 61.7% Malta, 2025 Eurostat, self-reported 26.6 35.7 62.3% Malta, 2024 WHO modelled estimate 30.6 32.6 63.2% Malta, 2014 to 2016 SAHHTEK, measured 34.1 35.7 69.8% EU average, 2025 Eurostat, self-reported 16.3 35.4 51.7%
Obese (BMI 30 or more)Overweight (BMI 25 to 30)
Share of adults in each BMI band. The WHO figure is age-standardised. SAHHTEK covered adults aged 18 to 70 and weighed and measured them; the others rely on reported or modelled data. Sources: Eurostat (sdg_02_10), WHO Global Health Observatory, Cuschieri et al. (2016).

What the WHO's own data say

The WHO publishes modelled estimates for every country, built from surveys that weigh and measure people. For 2024 it puts adult obesity in Malta at 30.6% after adjusting for age, or 33.3% unadjusted. Its estimate of adults with a BMI of 25 or more, less the obese, leaves an overweight band of about 32.6%.

So the 35.7% is Eurostat's figure, not the WHO's. Eurostat does use the WHO's BMI definitions.

Evaluation

What was said holds. Both numbers are Eurostat's latest, and the 26% is the most conservative of the obesity estimates; the WHO and the measured survey both put obesity higher. The overweight figure was attributed to the WHO but comes from Eurostat. Either way, about six in ten adults in Malta are overweight or obese.

Editorial note

How we assessed this claim

We checked each number against Eurostat's EU-wide surveys (EU-SILC for 2025 and 2022, the European Health Interview Survey for 2014), the SAHHTEK measured survey and the WHO's modelled estimates in its Global Health Observatory.

Both numbers match Eurostat's 2025 data, so the claim is rated True. The speaker attributed the overweight figure to the WHO, whose own estimate of that band is about 32.6%. The number itself is Eurostat's, built on the WHO's BMI definitions, and the attribution does not change the speaker's point. The 26% is also the most conservative of the obesity estimates available.

Limitations

  • Eurostat's figures are self-reported: people give their own height and weight, and tend to under-report weight.
  • SAHHTEK, run between 2014 and 2016, is the most recent nationally representative survey we found that weighed and measured people.
  • The WHO's figures are modelled estimates built from national surveys, not a fresh count.
  • Eurostat's figures cover residents of Malta, not only Maltese nationals.

Sources

  1. Eurostat, Obesity rate in the EU: 16.3% in 2025 (4 September 2026)
  2. Eurostat, Obesity rate by body mass index (BMI), dataset sdg_02_10, 2025
  3. Eurostat, Overweight and obesity: BMI statistics, EU-SILC 2022 data
  4. Directorate for Health Information and Research, Obesity in adults in Malta from 2002 to 2014, Factsheet 02/2018
  5. Cuschieri S. et al., Prevalence of obesity in Malta, Obesity Science & Practice (2016)
  6. World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory: prevalence of obesity (BMI 30 or more) and overweight (BMI 25 or more) among adults, age-standardised and crude estimates, 2024 (indicators NCD_BMI_30A, NCD_BMI_30C, NCD_BMI_25A, NCD_BMI_25C)
  7. World Health Organization, Obesity and overweight fact sheet