Wetall is a specialist in tall people, so it makes sense to look at the average height of people in every country in the world, so you know where you can blend in on holiday.

Numerous studies are regularly carried out around the world to define the average height of populations in each country. This provides a global picture of the population height of each country. However, some population size studies are not conducted on a large enough scale to make them valid. We will therefore present different rankings: official and unofficial ones. We will also look at the trends in average heights over time by country. Finally, some videos and external links will help us dig deeper into the matter.

Foreword

It is now fully accepted that the three most influential factors in growth are

food
the environment
genes.

The following figures show that the evolution of a country’s standard of living over the decades has an influence on the evolution of its average population size.

Official ranking

According to the official ranking of scientifically attested average heights, the Netherlands is the country with the tallest average male population. They are followed by Belgians, Estonians and Latvians. Among women, Latvians are the tallest, followed by Dutch, Estonians and Czechs.

The most important study carried out on the subject is the one directed by James Bentham. They analysed 1472 studies from 200 countries:

Average height for men per country:

Holland, 182,5 cm
Latvia, 181,4 cm
Germany, 179,9 cm
France, 179,7 cm
Sweden, 179,7 cm
Finland, 179,6 cm
Australia, 179,2 cm
Canada 178,1 cm
Italy, 177,8 cm
United Kingdom, 177,5 cm

All the ranking here

Average women per country:

Latvia, 169,8 cm
Holland, 168,7
Finland, 165,9
Germany, 165,9
Australia, 165,9
Sweden, 165,7
Russia, 165,3
France, 164,9
Greece, 164,9
Italy, 164,6

UK is 12th with 164,4

All the ranking here

Unofficial rankings

Other smaller studies have been carried out and have shown different results. Often the sample size was not large enough to be representative of the population. Therefore, the following ranking is an unofficial one.

World rankings for males 2021

#	Country	Men in cm	Men in inches
1	Montenegro	183,4	6 ft 0 in
2	Serbia	182	5 ft 11 1⁄2 in
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	181,7	5 ft 11 1⁄2 in
4	Sweden	181,5	5 ft 11 1⁄2 in
5	Lithuania	181,3	5 ft 11 1⁄2 in
6	Iceland	181	5 ft 11 1⁄2 in
7	Netherlands	180,8	5 ft 11 in
8	Croatia	180,4	5 ft 11 in
9	Denmark	180,4	5 ft 11 in
10	Slovenia	180,3	5 ft 11 in
11	Czech Republic	180,3	5 ft 11 in
12	Norway	179,7	5 ft 10 1⁄2 in
13	Slovakia	179,4	5 ft 10 1⁄2 in
14	Estonia	179,1	5 ft 10 1⁄2 in
15	Austria	179	5 ft 10 1⁄2 in
16	Finland	178,9	5 ft 10 1⁄2 in
17	Poland	178,7	5 ft 10 1⁄2 in
18	Belgium	178,6	5 ft 10 1⁄2 in
19	Switzerland	178,2	5 ft 10 in
20	Russia	177,2	5 ft 10 in
21	Israel	177	5 ft 9 1⁄2 in
22	Greece	177	5 ft 9 1⁄2 in
23	New Zealand	177	5 ft 9 1⁄2 in
24	Ireland	177	5 ft 9 1⁄2 in
25	Italy	176,5	5 ft 9 1⁄2 in
26	Tonga	176,1	5 ft 9 1⁄2 in
27	Hungary	176	5 ft 9 1⁄2 in
28	France	175,6	5 ft 9 in
29	Australia	175,6	5 ft 9 in
30	Germany	175,4	5 ft 9 in

World rankings for females 2021

#	Country	Women in centimeters	Women in inches
1	Montenegro	169,4
2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	169,4	5 ft 6 1⁄2 in
3	Belgium	168,1	5 ft 6 in
4	Iceland	168	5 ft 6 in
5	Lithuania	167,5	5 ft 6 in
6	Netherlands	167,5	5 ft 6 in
7	Slovenia	167,4	5 ft 6 in
8	Czech Republic	167,2	5 ft 6 in
9	Norway	167,1	5 ft 6 in
10	Serbia	166,8	5 ft 5 1⁄2 in
11	Sweden	166,8	5 ft 5 1⁄2 in
12	Samoa	166,6	5 ft 5 1⁄2 in
13	Croatia	166,5	5 ft 5 1⁄2 in
14	Austria	166	5 ft 5 1⁄2 in
15	Israel	166	5 ft 5 1⁄2 in
16	Slovakia	165,6	5 ft 5 in
17	Azerbaijan	165,4	5 ft 5 in
18	Finland	165,3	5 ft 5 in
19	Tonga	165,3	5 ft 5 in
20	Poland	165,1	5 ft 5 in
21	Greece	165	5 ft 5 in
22	Russia	164,1	5 ft 4 1⁄2 in
23	New Zealand	164	5 ft 4 1⁄2 in
24	Hungary	164	5 ft 4 1⁄2 in
25	Portugal	163,7	5 ft 4 1⁄2 in
26	Bulgaria	163,2	5 ft 4 1⁄2 in
27	Ireland	163	5 ft 4 in
28	Spain	163	5 ft 4 in
29	Senegal	163	5 ft 4 in
30	Germany	162,8	5 ft 4 in

source: worldpopulationrevue.com

Studies about height average in the world

Country/Region	Average height of men	Average height of women	Year


Dinaric Alps	185.6 cm (6 ft 1 in)	171.8 cm (5 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in)	2005
Bosnia Herzegovina	183.9 cm (6 ft 0 in)	171.8 cm (5 ft 7 in)	2014
Montenegro	183.4 cm (6 ft 0 in)	169.4 cm (5 ft 6 ¹⁄₂ in)	2017
Serbia	182.0 cm (5 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in)	166.8 cm (5 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in)	2012
Island	181 cm (5 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in)	168 cm (5 ft 6 in)	2007
Bosnia Herzegovina	181.7 cm (5 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in)	169.4 cm (5 ft 6 ¹⁄₂ in)	2017
Sweden	181.5 cm (5 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in)	166.8 cm (5 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in)	2008
Lithuania	181.3 cm (5 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in)	167.5 cm (5 ft 6 in)	2001
The Netherlands	180.8 cm (5 ft 11 in)	167.5 cm (5 ft 6 in)	2013
Finland	180.7 cm (5 ft 11 in)	167.2 cm (5 ft 6 in)	2010–2011
Croatia	180.4 cm (5 ft 11 in)	166.49 cm (5 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in)	2006–2008
Denmark	180.4 cm (5 ft 11 in)	N/A	2012
Slovenia	180.3 cm (5 ft 11 in)	167.4 cm (5 ft 6 in)	2011
Czech Republic	180.31 cm (5 ft 11 in)	167.22 cm (5 ft 6 in)	2001
Austria	179 cm (5 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in)	166 cm (5 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in)	2006
Norway	179.7 cm (5 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in)	167.1 cm (5 ft 6 in)	2012
Norway	179.7 cm (5 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in)	167 cm (5 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in)	2008–2009
Kosovo	179.52 cm (5 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in)	165.72 cm (5 ft 5 in)	2017
Slovakia	179.4 cm (5 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in)	165.6 cm (5 ft 5 in)	2004
Estonia	179.1 cm (5 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in)	N/A	2003
Germany	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)	165 cm (5 ft 5 in)	2009
Finland	178.9 cm (5 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in)	165.3 cm (5 ft 5 in)	1994
Poland	178.7 cm (5 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in)	165.1 cm (5 ft 5 in)	2010
Belgium	178.6 cm (5 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in)	168.1 cm (5 ft 6 in)	2001
Lithuania (city-dwellers)	178.4 cm (5 ft 10 in)	N/A	2005
Switzerland	178.2 cm (5 ft 10 in)	N/A	2009
Greece	177 cm (5 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in)	165 cm (5 ft 5 in)	2003
Ireland	177 cm (5 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in)	163 cm (5 ft 4 in)	2007
Israel	177 cm (5 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in)	166 cm (5 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in)	2010
New Zealand	177 cm (5 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in)	164 cm (5 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in)	2007
Sweden	177.9 cm (5 ft 10 in)	164.6 cm (5 ft 5 in)	1987–1994
Ireland	177.5 cm (5 ft 10 in)	163.5 cm (5 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in)	2001
Hungary	177.3 cm (5 ft 10 in)	N/A	2005
India	177.3 cm (5 ft 10 in)	N/A	2013
Italy	177.2 cm (5 ft 10 in)	167.8 cm (5 ft 6 in)	2001
Russia	177.2 cm (5 ft 10 in)	164.1 cm (5 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in)	2004
United Kingdom	177.0 cm (5 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in)	162.0 cm (5 ft 4 in)	2009
USA	177.0 cm (5 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in)	163.3 cm (5 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in)	2015–2016
Hungary	176 cm (5 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in)	164 cm (5 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in)	2000s
Italy	176.5 cm (5 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in)	162.5 cm (5 ft 4 in)	1999–2004
Lithuania	176.2 cm (5 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in)	N/A	2005
Tonga	176.1 cm (5 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in)	165.3 cm (5 ft 5 in)	2001
Australia	175.6 cm (5 ft 9 in)	161.8 cm (5 ft 3 ¹⁄₂ in)	2011–2012
France	175.6 cm (5 ft 9 in)	162.5 cm (5 ft 4 in)	2003–2004
USA	175.5 cm (5 ft 9 in)	162.6 cm (5 ft 4 in)	2015-2016
Germany	175.4 cm (5 ft 9 in)	162.8 cm (5 ft 4 in)	2007

Changes in population height over time

The majority of countries have seen their quality of life improve in recent decades. This has had a direct impact on the increase of their average height.

The countries that have experienced the greatest growth are Iranian men, who have increased their height by 16.5 cm since 1914, and South Korean women, who have increased their height by 20.2 cm.

The results in pictures :