Objective: To analyze the economic burden of obesity and four obesity-related chronic diseases in rural Yunnan Province, China. Study design: A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among rural residents in Yunnan Province. A multistage stratified random sampling approach was applied to collect a sample of the population aged >= 35 years in this region. Methods: Questionnaires were conducted and measurements were taken from 5040 participants. A two-step model was used to measure direct economic burden of disease, whereas a human capital approach was applied to measure indirect economic burden. Results: The prevalence of general obesity, central obesity, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke was 7.1%, 37.0%, 35.3%, 9.9%, 3.8%, and 1.7%, respectively, while obese participants as expected had a higher risk of the aforementioned four obesity-related illnesses than their counterparts (P < 0.01). The total, direct, and indirect costs of the four illnesses were $30,350.8 million, $28,642.5 million, and $1708.3 million, respectively, with 12.7% attributable to general obesity and 28.7% attributable to central obesity. Conclusions: The economic burden of the four studied chronic diseases attributable to obesity in rural Yunnan Province is substantial. Interventions for controlling obesity should be applied to prevent obesity-related diseases and reduce the economic burden of disease. (C) 2018 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.