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Average height in New Zealand

Men in New Zealand average 177.7 cm (5 ft 10 in), women 164.9 cm (5 ft 5 in). That puts New Zealand 30th of 186 countries in our data.

Key numbers

Men
177.7 cm
5 ft 10 in
Women
164.9 cm
5 ft 5 in
SD, men / women
8.0 / 7.5
cm, global SD
vs global mean
+6.7 cm
women +5.9 cm
Rank, men
30 of 186
women 28 of 186
Men minus women
12.8 cm
global 12.0 cm

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New Zealand among its neighbours

Ranking neighbours (three above and below) plus every Oceania country in our data
#CountryMen (cm)Women (cm)Region
18Australia179.2165.9Oceania
27Canada178.1163.9Americas
28Luxembourg177.9164.4Europe
29Italy177.8164.6Europe
30New Zealand177.7164.9Oceania
31United Kingdom177.5164.4Europe
32Austria177.4164.6Europe
33French Polynesia177.4164.5Oceania
40Tonga176.8165.5Oceania
52Samoa174.4162.0Oceania
57Fiji173.9161.7Oceania
109Kiribati169.2157.0Oceania
118Micronesia168.5156.1Oceania
123Vanuatu168.1158.2Oceania
171Solomon Islands164.1154.4Oceania
175Papua New Guinea163.6154.9Oceania

What counts as tall in New Zealand

Share of adults shorter than each height, estimated from mean and SD
Heightft inShorter menShorter women
160 cm5 ft 3 in1%26%
165 cm5 ft 5 in6%51%
170 cm5 ft 7 in17%75%
175 cm5 ft 9 in37%91%
180 cm5 ft 11 in61%98%
185 cm6 ft 1 in82%>99%
190 cm6 ft 3 in94%>99%
195 cm6 ft 5 in98%>99%
200 cm6 ft 7 in>99%>99%

Read it as: a man of 185 cm in New Zealand is taller than 82% of men. Values under 1% or over 99% are shown as <1 and >99.

In plain language

The standard deviation for men in New Zealand is 8.0 cm. In practice that means about two thirds of men stand between 169.7 and 185.7 cm, and roughly 95% between 161.7 and 193.7 cm. A man of 186 cm is taller than about 84% of men here; one of 194 cm is taller than about 98%.

Men in New Zealand are on average 12.8 cm taller than women. Compared with the global mean, men here are 6.7 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 New Zealand?
A man of 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) is taller than about 61% of men in New Zealand. Taller than most, but ordinary. For a woman, 180 cm is taller than 98% of women in New Zealand.
What is the average height of women in New Zealand?
Women in New Zealand average 164.9 cm (5 ft 5 in), with a standard deviation of 7.5 cm. About two thirds of women are between 157.4 and 172.4 cm. That ranks 28th of 186 countries for women.
How does New Zealand compare to Italy?
Men in Italy average 177.8 cm, 0.1 cm more than men in New Zealand. Women average 164.6 cm against 164.9 cm. Italy ranks 29th, New Zealand 30th.
How does New Zealand compare to the world average?
The global mean is 171.0 cm for men and 159.0 cm for women. Men in New Zealand are 6.7 cm taller than that, women 5.9 cm taller.

NCD-RisC does not publish standard deviations. SD for countries added in 2026-10 uses the global SD. New Zealand is one of them, so the SD and the percentiles above use the global spread rather than one measured here.

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.