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Average height in India

Men in India average 164.9 cm (5 ft 5 in), women 152.6 cm (5 ft 0 in). That puts India 165th of 186 countries in our data.

Key numbers

Men
164.9 cm
5 ft 5 in
Women
152.6 cm
5 ft 0 in
SD, men / women
6.9 / 6.3
cm
vs global mean
-6.1 cm
women -6.4 cm
Rank, men
165 of 186
women 179 of 186
Men minus women
12.3 cm
global 12.0 cm

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India among its neighbours

Ranking neighbours (three above and below) plus every Asia country in our data
#CountryMen (cm)Women (cm)Region
39Israel176.9161.8Asia
46South Korea174.9162.3Asia
50Taiwan174.5161.5Asia
51Lebanon174.4162.4Asia
53Georgia174.3163.0Asia
60Hong Kong173.6159.0Asia
61Iran173.6159.7Asia
75Singapore172.6160.3Asia
76Kuwait172.1159.4Asia
78Palestine172.1158.8Asia
79Armenia172.0158.1Asia
81North Korea172.0159.0Asia
82Turkmenistan172.0161.7Asia
85China171.8159.7Asia
88Tajikistan171.3157.3Asia
89Kyrgyzstan171.2159.4Asia
90Kazakhstan171.1159.6Asia
92Jordan171.0158.8Asia
93Japan170.8158.3Asia
94United Arab Emirates170.5158.7Asia
96Qatar170.5159.4Asia
97Iraq170.4158.7Asia
99Syria170.4158.6Asia
104Azerbaijan169.7158.3Asia
107Uzbekistan169.4157.8Asia
110Oman169.2157.2Asia
111Thailand169.2157.9Asia
112Mongolia169.1158.2Asia
126Malaysia167.9156.3Asia
128Bahrain167.7156.7Asia
129Maldives167.7155.0Asia
131Saudi Arabia167.7155.9Asia
140Pakistan166.9153.8Asia
157Sri Lanka165.7154.6Asia
161Afghanistan165.3155.1Asia
162Bhutan165.3153.6Asia
163Peru165.2152.9Americas
164Brunei165.0154.0Asia
165India164.9152.6Asia
166Mozambique164.8154.0Africa
167Tanzania164.8155.9Africa
168Myanmar164.7154.4Asia
170Vietnam164.4153.6Asia
172Bangladesh163.8150.8Asia
174Indonesia163.6152.8Asia
177Cambodia163.3152.9Asia
179Philippines163.2149.6Asia
181Nepal162.3150.9Asia
184Laos160.5151.3Asia
185Yemen159.9154.0Asia
186Timor-Leste159.8151.2Asia

What counts as tall in India

Share of adults shorter than each height, estimated from mean and SD
Heightft inShorter menShorter women
160 cm5 ft 3 in24%88%
165 cm5 ft 5 in51%98%
170 cm5 ft 7 in77%>99%
175 cm5 ft 9 in93%>99%
180 cm5 ft 11 in99%>99%
185 cm6 ft 1 in>99%>99%
190 cm6 ft 3 in>99%>99%
195 cm6 ft 5 in>99%>99%
200 cm6 ft 7 in>99%>99%

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

In plain language

The standard deviation for men in India is 6.9 cm. In practice that means about two thirds of men stand between 158.0 and 171.8 cm, and roughly 95% between 151.1 and 178.7 cm. A man of 172 cm is taller than about 84% of men here; one of 179 cm is taller than about 98%.

Men in India are on average 12.3 cm taller than women. Compared with the global mean, men here are 6.1 cm shorter and women 6.4 cm shorter. 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 India?
A man of 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) is taller than about 99% of men in India. That is clearly tall here. For a woman, 180 cm is taller than >99% of women in India.
What is the average height of women in India?
Women in India average 152.6 cm (5 ft 0 in), with a standard deviation of 6.3 cm. About two thirds of women are between 146.3 and 158.9 cm. That ranks 179th of 186 countries for women.
How does India compare to Brunei?
Men in Brunei average 165.0 cm, 0.1 cm more than men in India. Women average 154.0 cm against 152.6 cm. Brunei ranks 164th, India 165th.
How does India compare to the world average?
The global mean is 171.0 cm for men and 159.0 cm for women. Men in India are 6.1 cm shorter than that, women 6.4 cm shorter.

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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