Waist circumference

Waist circumference for adults is a good indicator of total body fat and is a better predictor than body mass index (BMI) for certain chronic conditions such as cardiovascular risk and type 2 diabetes (National Health and Medical Research Council 2013). A waist circumference above 80 cm for women and 94 cm for men is associated with an increased risk of chronic conditions. A waist circumference above 88 cm for women and 102 cm for men is associated with a substantially increased risk of chronic conditions (WHO 2000).


In 2022, based on the latest available measured data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2022 National Health Survey (NHS):

  • an estimated 63% of men and 72% of women aged 18 and over have a waist circumference that indicated an increased or substantially increased risk of metabolic complications, including type 2 diabetes. This is an increase from 2017–18 (60% of men and 66% of women)
  • the proportion of adults with a waist circumference indicating a substantially increased risk of metabolic complications increased with age and is higher in women than men across all age groups (Figure 1) (AIHW 2024).

See the Overweight and obesity report for more information.

Figure 1: Proportion of adults aged 18 and over with a waist circumference indicating increased risk of metabolic complications, by age group and sex, 2022

Data show that the proportion of adults with a substantially increased risk tend to increase with age, up until about age 65–74 for men and women.

Source: Overweight and Obesity (AIHW 2024). For data and footnotes see data table S3 in Overweight and obesity. 

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