The ideal body fat percentage for men and women

The most important limit values for body fat percentage
The lower limit of body fat percentage that is still considered healthy is

in men 5% and
in women 12%.
Athletes tend to lower percentages because more muscles are built up in proportion.

Although low body fat levels basically correlate with higher performance, there are no other benefits for athletes if the fat percentage

in men under 8% and
falls below 14% in women.
In Europe, the average body fat percentage has been rising steadily for years, currently it is 17% for 20-year-old men and 25% for women. At the age of 45, the average was 23% for men and 30% for women.

When is the body fat percentage too high?

A dramatic increase in health problems is documented above a fat percentage

25% in men and
32% in women
Body fat percentage table for healthy values
Depending on your age and gender, you can find your ideal body fat percentage in the "Excellent" column in the table.

Fat percentage of men

Age Excellent Good Medium Bad
20 - 24 10.8 14.9 19.0 23.3
25-29 12.8 16.5 20.3 24.3
30 - 34 14.5 18.0 21.5 25.2
35 - 39 16.1 19.3 22.6 26.1
40 - 44 17.5 20.5 23.6 26.9
45-49 18.6 21.5 24.5 27.6
50 -59 19.8 22.7 25.6 28.7
60+ 20.2 23.2 26.2 29.3

Fat percentage women

Age Excellent Good Medium Bad

20 - 24 18.9 22.1 25.0 29.6
25-29 18.9 22.0 25.4 29.8
30 - 34 19.7 22.7 26.4 30.5
35 - 39 21.0 24.0 27.7 31.5
40 - 44 22.6 25.6 29.3 32.8
45-49 24.3 27.3 30.9 34.1
50 -59 26.6 29.7 33.1 36.2
60+ 27.4 30.7 34.0 37.3