--- title: Report: Global Cost of Obesity Is $2 Trillion Annually description: The global cost of obesity has risen to $2 trillion annually, almost as much as smoking. canonical: https://time.com/3597407/obesity-global-cost-report/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-20T18:49:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:35:32.563Z article:section: Health og:title: Report Says The Global Cost of Obesity Is $2 Trillion Annually og:description: The global cost of obesity has risen to $2 trillion annually, almost as much as smoking. og:url: https://time.com/3597407/obesity-global-cost-report/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Report Says The Global Cost of Obesity Is $2 Trillion Annually twitter:description: The global cost of obesity has risen to $2 trillion annually, almost as much as smoking. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Obesity Now Costs the World $2 Trillion a Year  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 20, 2014 6:49 PM UTC  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 20, 2014 6:49 PM UTC The global cost of obesity has risen to $2 trillion annually, according to a [new report](http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/economic%5Fstudies/how%5Fthe%5Fworld%5Fcould%5Fbetter%5Ffight%5Fobesity), more than the combined costs of armed violence, war and terrorism. The McKinsey Global Institute report says currently almost 30% of the world’s population is obese, and that if present trends continue, that almost half the population will be clinically overweight or obese by 2030. The report cautioned that no single solution would reverse the problem, instead calling for a “systemic, sustained portfolio of initiatives” to tackle the crisis, such as better nutritional label, healthier food at schools, advertising restrictions on fatty foods and beverages, and public health campaigns. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3597407/obesity-global-cost-report/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3597407/obesity-global-cost-report/"},"headline":"Obesity Now Costs the World $2 Trillion a Year","datePublished":"2014-11-20T18:49:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:35:32.563Z","description":"Half the world's population could be obese by 2030, warns a McKinsey Global Institute report","url":"https://time.com/3597407/obesity-global-cost-report/","keywords":["Obesity","Population","global health"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/obesity/","name":"Obesity"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3597407/obesity-global-cost-report/","name":"Obesity Now Costs the World $2 Trillion a Year"}}]}] ```