More Than One in Four Adults Eligible for GLP-1 Receptor Agonists

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 14, 2026 (HealthDay News) — More than one-quarter of adults aged 25 to 64 years from 99 countries are eligible to receive a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, according to a research letter published in the February issue of The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Sang Gune K. Yoo, M.D., from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues analyzed individual participant data from nationally representative household health surveys conducted in 99 countries between 2008 and 2021, including data from 810,635 nonpregnant individuals aged 25 to 64 years.

The researchers found that an estimated 27.0 percent of the total pooled sample was eligible for a GLP-1 receptor agonist, corresponding to approximately 799.0 million individuals incorporating age-stratified U.N. 2020 population size estimates. Eligibility was 11.7, 25.2, 26.2, and 41.8 percent in low-, lower-middle-, upper-middle-, and high-income countries, respectively. Across world regions, eligibility for GLP-1 receptor agonists for weight management varied substantially, with the highest eligibility seen in Europe and North America and in the Pacific Islands (42.8 and 41.0 percent, respectively). The largest absolute number of eligible individuals was seen in South, East, and Southeast Asia, with 23.1 percent eligible. Women were more likely to be eligible than men (28.5 versus 25.5 percent), and eligibility increased with age, from 17.9 percent among those aged 25 to 34 years to 38.3 percent among those aged 54 to 64 years.

“Given the steadily increasing prevalence of obesity, it”s not surprising that our analysis found that more than one quarter of adults around the world may be eligible for this medication,” Koo said in a statement. “Access remains a major challenge as these medications are difficult to obtain in many settings.”

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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