List of average human height worldwide

Below are two tables which report the average adult human heights by country or geographical region. With regards the first table, original studies and sources should be consulted for details on methodology and the exact populations measured, surveyed, or considered. With regards the second table, these present estimates for the said regions for 2019, and the figures and declared sources may conflict with the findings of the first table.

Accuracy of the first table

As with any statistical data, the accuracy of the findings may be questionable for the following reasons:

* Some studies may allow subjects to self-report values. Generally speaking, self-reported height tends to be taller than measured height, although the overestimation of height depends on the reporting subject's height, age, gender and region.
* Test subjects may have been invited instead of chosen at random, resulting in sampling bias.
* Some countries may have significant height gaps between different regions. For instance, one survey shows there is gap between the tallest state and the shortest state in Germany. Under such circumstances, the mean height may not represent the total population unless sample subjects are appropriately taken from all regions with using weighted average of the different regional groups.
* Different social groups can show different mean height. According to a study in France, executives and professionals are taller, and university students are taller than the national average. As this case shows, data taken from a particular social group may not represent a total population in some countries.
* The height of a person can vary over the course of a day, due to factors such as a height decrease from exercise done directly before measurement (i.e. inversely correlated), or a height increase since lying down for a significant period of time (i.e. positively correlated). For example, one study revealed a mean decrease of in the heights of 100 children from getting out of bed in the morning to between 4 and 5 p.m. that same day. Such factors may not have been controlled in some of the studies.

First table: individual surveys and studies

Note: Letters in grey indicate non-measured height.

), , 100.0%, , Measured , , 2008 , ,
, - style="background: #CBFECB;"
, United States , , , , , , 1.09 , , All Americans, 20+ (N= m:5,232 f:5,547), , 100.0% , , Measured , , 2015–2018 , ,
, -
, United States – Non-Hispanic Whites , , , , , , 1.08 , , Non-Hispanic white, 20–39 (N= m:715 f:689), , 17.1%Ethnic population ratio fro
State & County QuickFacts
, United States Census Bureau. , , Measured , , 2015–2018 , ,
, -
, United States – African Americans , , , , , , 1.08 , , Non-Hispanic black, 20–39 (N= m:405 f:418), , 3.4% , , Measured , , 2015–2018 , ,
, -
, United States – Asian Americans , , , , , , 1.09 , , Non-Hispanic Asian, 20–39 (N= m:260 f:272), , 1.3% , , Measured , , 2015–2018 , ,
, -
, United States – Hispanic and Latino Americans , , , , , , 1.08 , , Hispanic, 20–39 (N= m:385 f:428), , 4.4% , , Measured , , 2015–2018 , ,
, -
, United States – Mexican Americans , , , , , , 1.09 , , Mexican American, 20–39 (N= m:233 f:247), , 2.8% , , Measured , , 2015–2018 , ,
, -
, Uruguay , , , , , , 1.08 , , Adults (N= m:2,249 f:2,114), , , , Measured , , 1990 , ,
, - style="background: #CBFECB;"
, Uzbekistan , , , , , , 1.08 , , 18–64 (N= m:1,531 f:2,161) , , 93.1% , , Measured , , 2014 , ,
, - style="background: #CBFECB;"
, Vanuatu , , , , , , 1.06 , , 25–64 (N= m:2,257 f:2,244) , , 70.1% , , Measured , , 2011–2012 , ,
, - style="background: #CBFECB;"
, Vietnam , , , , , , 1.07 , , 18 (around 22,400 families across 25 cities and provinces), , , , Measured , , 2019–2020 , ,
, - style="background:#cbfecb; color:#555;"
, Zambia , , , , , , , , 25–49 (N= f:4,091, SD= f:), , 54.2% , , Self-reported , , 2007 , ,
, - style="color:#555;"
, Zimbabwe , , , , , , , , 25–49 (N= f:4,746, SD= f:), , 47.3% , , Self-reported , , 2005 , ,
, -

Accuracy of the second table

As with any statistical data, the accuracy of the findings may be questionable for the following reasons:

*The study uses a ''Bayesian hierarchical model'' to estimate the trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height, 1,344 academics having collated the results of 2,181 studies covering 65 million people, and mean BMI in one-year age groups for ages 5–19 years across 193 regions, all based on selected material rather than all available.
*The figures demonstrate a discrepancy with many of the findings of the first table, for example with Bosnia and Herzegovina which is ranked sixth on the following table, an actual survey from 2014 already found males from 19-32 to average 1.839 as opposed to the 1.825 reported below; similarly Montenegro's male estimate of 1.833 would not compensate for the unfinished growth of its actual 1.829 measurement on the first table for a sample to include 17- and 18-year olds.
*Akin to the above point, the table and diagrams of this subsection are reliant on one singular publication which in turn cites surveys that cannot be scrutinised by the public since the public has no access to them. Of particular interest is a round figure and in-source references for North Korea. The requisition of such claimed details is questionable in light of global difficulties in obtaining statistics from North Korea. The figure for North Korea produced in the first table confirms that the measurements actually occurred in South Korea and the sample in question had been self-admitted defectors from North Korea.

Second table: estimated average height of 19-year-olds by region for 2019

Territories are sorted according to the average of the male and female mean height:

Explanatory notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Human height, Average worldwide
Average worldwide
Statistics-related lists