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Average height in France

Men in France average 179.7 cm (5 ft 11 in), women 164.9 cm (5 ft 5 in). That puts France 13th of 186 countries in our data.

Key numbers

Men
179.7 cm
5 ft 11 in
Women
164.9 cm
5 ft 5 in
SD, men / women
7.0 / 6.4
cm
vs global mean
+8.7 cm
women +5.9 cm
Rank, men
13 of 186
women 25 of 186
Men minus women
14.8 cm
global 12.0 cm

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France among its neighbours

Ranking neighbours (three above and below) plus every Europe country in our data
#CountryMen (cm)Women (cm)Region
1Netherlands182.5168.7Europe
2Belgium181.7165.5Europe
3Estonia181.6168.7Europe
4Denmark181.4167.2Europe
5Latvia181.4169.8Europe
6Bosnia and Herzegovina180.9165.8Europe
7Croatia180.8165.6Europe
8Serbia180.6167.7Europe
9Iceland180.5165.9Europe
10Czechia180.1168.5Europe
11Germany179.9165.9Europe
12Slovenia179.8166.1Europe
13France179.7164.9Europe
14Norway179.7165.6Europe
15Sweden179.7165.7Europe
16Finland179.6165.9Europe
17Slovakia179.5167.5Europe
19Lithuania179.0166.6Europe
20Ireland178.9165.1Europe
21Ukraine178.5166.3Europe
22Belarus178.4166.3Europe
23Switzerland178.4163.5Europe
24Montenegro178.3164.9Europe
25North Macedonia178.3159.8Europe
26Bulgaria178.2164.8Europe
28Luxembourg177.9164.4Europe
29Italy177.8164.6Europe
31United Kingdom177.5164.4Europe
32Austria177.4164.6Europe
34Greece177.3164.9Europe
35Hungary177.3163.7Europe
36Poland177.3164.6Europe
41Spain176.6163.4Europe
42Russia176.5165.3Europe
44Moldova175.5163.2Europe
45Cyprus175.0162.3Europe
47Romania174.7162.7Europe
55Turkey174.2160.5Europe
63Albania173.4161.8Europe
65Malta173.3160.9Europe
68Portugal172.9163.0Europe

What counts as tall in France

Share of adults shorter than each height, estimated from mean and SD
Heightft inShorter menShorter women
160 cm5 ft 3 in<1%22%
165 cm5 ft 5 in2%51%
170 cm5 ft 7 in8%79%
175 cm5 ft 9 in25%94%
180 cm5 ft 11 in52%99%
185 cm6 ft 1 in78%>99%
190 cm6 ft 3 in93%>99%
195 cm6 ft 5 in99%>99%
200 cm6 ft 7 in>99%>99%

Read it as: a man of 185 cm in France is taller than 78% of men. Values under 1% or over 99% are shown as <1 and >99.

In plain language

The standard deviation for men in France is 7.0 cm. In practice that means about two thirds of men stand between 172.7 and 186.7 cm, and roughly 95% between 165.7 and 193.7 cm. A man of 187 cm is taller than about 84% of men here; one of 194 cm is taller than about 98%.

Men in France are on average 14.8 cm taller than women. Compared with the global mean, men here are 8.7 cm taller and women 5.9 cm taller. These are means for people born in 1996, measured at 18. Older generations in most countries are shorter, by several centimetres where heights rose fast.

Questions

Is 180 cm tall in France?
A man of 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) is taller than about 52% of men in France. That is about average here. For a woman, 180 cm is taller than 99% of women in France.
What is the average height of women in France?
Women in France average 164.9 cm (5 ft 5 in), with a standard deviation of 6.4 cm. About two thirds of women are between 158.5 and 171.3 cm. That ranks 25th of 186 countries for women.
How does France compare to Slovenia?
Men in Slovenia average 179.8 cm, 0.1 cm more than men in France. Women average 166.1 cm against 164.9 cm. Slovenia ranks 12th, France 13th.
How does France compare to the world average?
The global mean is 171.0 cm for men and 159.0 cm for women. Men in France are 8.7 cm taller than that, women 5.9 cm taller.

Source: NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, eLife 2016, mean height at 18 of adults born in 1996. Percentiles on this page are our estimate from a normal distribution with the stated mean and SD.

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Also by country: Average BMI by country and Life expectancy by country.