Average heights by country

As most people know, average heights differ from country to country. People tend to be taller in northern latitudes and short closer to the equator. Genetics and nutrition play the most important roles in determining height. Some countries saw a marked increase in average height last century when food became abundant enough to feed the population. In many of these countries, older people, who did not have the benefit of better nutrition, are significantly shorter than the younger generations.

The table below lists height for different countries and the sources^[ 1 ] for that data. Significant digits are preserved from the source. In some cases a height is accurate to .1 inches (or .1 cm) while in others it is only accurate to 1 inch (or .1cm). Multiple studies for a country might determine different heights because of the age group studied or the year the study was conducted.

 

Country	Men           (cm)		Women           (cm)		Source
Australia	5' 10"	178	5' 4.6"	164	Australian Bureau of Statistics 1995
Brazil	5' 6.9"	170.0	Not Avail.		Pheasant 1996
China	5' 6"	168	5' 2"	157	Times Online 2005
	5' 6.6"	169.1	5' 1.2"	155.4	People Size 1998
France	5' 7.7"	171.9	5' 3.1"	160.4	Rebiffe et al. 1981-82
Germany	5' 8.2"	173	5' 3.7"	162	Deutsches institut für Normung 1986
Italy	5' 8.0"	172.8	5' 3.4"	161.0	Masali, et al 1992
Japan	5' 6"	168	5' 1"	155	Times Online 2005
	5' 6.4"	168.7	5' 1.3"	155.8	People Size 1998
Netherlands	5' 10.7"	179.5	5' 5.0"	165.0	Pheasant 1996
	6' 1"	185	5' 8"	172	Times Online 2005
Sri Lanka	5' 4.5"	163.9	5' 0.0"	152.3	Abeysekera & Shahnavas 1987
Sweden	5' 8.5"	174	5' 4.6"	164	Pheasant 1996
United Kingdom[ 2 ]	5' 10"	178	5' 4"	163	Times Online 2005
	5' 9.1"	175.5	5' 3.8"	162.0	People Size 1998
United States[ 3 ]	5' 10"	178	5' 4"	163	Times Online 2005
	5' 9.3"	176.0	5' 4.1"	162.7	People Size 1998
Vietnam	5' 3"	160	4' 10"	147	Times Online 2005

[ 1 ]	Except for Times Online, all sources are summarized from: ADULTDATA The Handbook of Adult Anthropometric and Strength Measurements - Data for Design Safety Laura Peebles and Beverly Norris Institute for Occupational Ergonomics, Dept. of Manuf. Engineering & Operations Mgmt. University of Nottingham
[ 2 ]	Information about height in the United Kindom is available at the Health Survey for England Web site managed by the Department of Health. The 4th tab of Excel spreadsheet on this pages provides height data.
[ 3 ]	Detailed statics about height and other body measurements in the United States is avaible from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.