Increased body fat percentage is related to increased cardiovascular mortality and this effect is more pronounced in South Asians. Bariatric surgery is one of the most effective interventions to lose excess body fat in obese patients. In this study we aimed to assess the reduction of body fat after bariatric surgery among obese Sri Lankans. We did a retrospective analysis of medical records of 192 obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery at Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka. Body fat percentage was recorded by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Percentage body fat loss (PBFL) was calculated to assess the body fat content in the body weight lost. The PBFL was calculated at each follow up visit by the following formula, (loss of body fat weight / loss total body weight) ×100. Overall 75.5% were females. The mean age was 38.2 (±10.2) years. Mean body weight and body mass index were 114.6 (± 22.4) kg, and 45.0 (± 6.7) kg/m2 respectively. At 18 months after surgery, the mean body weight loss was 30.6 (± 9.1) kg. At 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and 18 months after bariatric surgery, the mean body fat weight loss was 6.0 (±6.0) kg, 11.5 (±6.8) kg, 17.0 (±6.7) kg, 20.1 (±7.2) kg and 21.3 (±7.4) kg respectively. The PBFL at these time intervals were 62.3%, 65.9%, 68.5%, 66.2% and 67.3% respectively. In conclusion bariatric surgery resulted in a progressive loss of body fat with a mean body fat weight loss of 21.3 kg at 18 months. There was a consistent PBFL of almost 70% meaning that the patients lost almost 700 g of body fat per every 1 kg of body weight lost. Thus bariatric surgery seems to be a very effective intervention in reducing body fat in obese Sri Lankans.