Is 180 cm tall in South Africa?

A man of 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) is taller than about 98% of men in South Africa. That is clearly tall here. For a woman, 180 cm is taller than >99% of women in South Africa.

What is the average height of women in South Africa?

Women in South Africa average 158.0 cm (5 ft 2 in), with a standard deviation of 6.1 cm. About two thirds of women are between 151.9 and 164.1 cm. That ranks 115th of 186 countries for women.

How does South Africa compare to Nicaragua?

Men in Nicaragua average 166.7 cm, 0.0 cm more than men in South Africa. Women average 154.4 cm against 158.0 cm. Nicaragua ranks 145th, South Africa 146th.

How does South Africa compare to the world average?

The global mean is 171.0 cm for men and 159.0 cm for women. Men in South Africa are 4.3 cm shorter than that, women 1.0 cm shorter.

Average height in South Africa

Men in South Africa average 166.7 cm (5 ft 6 in), women 158.0 cm (5 ft 2 in). That puts South Africa 146th of 186 countries in our data.

Key numbers

Men

166.7 cm

5 ft 6 in

Women

158.0 cm

5 ft 2 in

SD, men / women

6.7 / 6.1

cm

vs global mean

-4.3 cm

women -1.0 cm

Rank, men

146 of 186

women 115 of 186

Men minus women

8.7 cm

global 12.0 cm

South Africa among its neighbours

Ranking neighbours (three above and below) plus every Africa country in our data
#	Country	Men (cm)	Women (cm)	Region
54	Seychelles	174.2	162.1	Africa
56	Tunisia	174.0	160.4	Africa
62	Libya	173.5	162.1	Africa
66	Cabo Verde	173.2	161.6	Africa
67	Senegal	173.1	162.5	Africa
86	Botswana	171.6	161.4	Africa
91	Mali	171.1	160.5	Africa
95	Mauritius	170.5	157.2	Africa
98	Morocco	170.4	157.8	Africa
100	Chad	170.4	160.2	Africa
102	Algeria	170.1	159.1	Africa
105	Kenya	169.6	158.2	Africa
108	Burkina Faso	169.3	160.2	Africa
115	Ghana	168.8	157.9	Africa
117	Zimbabwe	168.6	158.2	Africa
120	Eritrea	168.4	156.4	Africa
121	Togo	168.3	158.3	Africa
122	Eswatini	168.1	158.6	Africa
124	Gabon	167.9	158.8	Africa
125	Guinea-Bissau	167.9	158.2	Africa
127	Cameroon	167.8	158.8	Africa
130	Niger	167.7	158.3	Africa
132	Guinea	167.5	157.8	Africa
133	Republic of the Congo	167.4	157.6	Africa
134	Equatorial Guinea	167.4	157.3	Africa
135	Sao Tome and Principe	167.4	158.9	Africa
136	Angola	167.3	157.3	Africa
137	Benin	167.1	156.2	Africa
139	Namibia	167.0	158.8	Africa
142	DR Congo	166.8	155.2	Africa
143	Central African Republic	166.7	158.0	Africa
144	Egypt	166.7	157.3	Africa
145	Nicaragua	166.7	154.4	Americas
146	South Africa	166.7	158.0	Africa
147	Burundi	166.6	154.0	Africa
148	Djibouti	166.6	156.1	Africa
149	Sudan	166.6	156.0	Africa
150	Somalia	166.6	156.1	Africa
151	Côte d'Ivoire	166.5	158.1	Africa
152	Zambia	166.5	155.8	Africa
154	Ethiopia	166.2	155.7	Africa
155	Comoros	166.2	155.6	Africa
156	Nigeria	165.9	156.3	Africa
158	Lesotho	165.6	155.7	Africa
159	Uganda	165.6	156.7	Africa
160	Gambia	165.4	160.9	Africa
166	Mozambique	164.8	154.0	Africa
167	Tanzania	164.8	155.9	Africa
169	Sierra Leone	164.4	156.6	Africa
173	Liberia	163.7	155.7	Africa
178	Mauritania	163.3	157.7	Africa
180	Rwanda	162.7	154.8	Africa
182	Malawi	162.2	154.4	Africa
183	Madagascar	161.5	151.2	Africa

What counts as tall in South Africa

Share of adults shorter than each height, estimated from mean and SD
Height	ft in	Shorter men	Shorter women
160 cm	5 ft 3 in	16%	63%
165 cm	5 ft 5 in	40%	87%
170 cm	5 ft 7 in	69%	98%
175 cm	5 ft 9 in	89%	>99%
180 cm	5 ft 11 in	98%	>99%
185 cm	6 ft 1 in	>99%	>99%
190 cm	6 ft 3 in	>99%	>99%
195 cm	6 ft 5 in	>99%	>99%
200 cm	6 ft 7 in	>99%	>99%

Read it as: a man of 185 cm in South Africa 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 South Africa is 6.7 cm. In practice that means about two thirds of men stand between 160.0 and 173.4 cm, and roughly 95% between 153.3 and 180.1 cm. A man of 173 cm is taller than about 84% of men here; one of 180 cm is taller than about 98%.

Men in South Africa are on average 8.7 cm taller than women. Compared with the global mean, men here are 4.3 cm shorter and women 1.0 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 South Africa?: A man of 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) is taller than about 98% of men in South Africa. That is clearly tall here. For a woman, 180 cm is taller than >99% of women in South Africa.
What is the average height of women in South Africa?: Women in South Africa average 158.0 cm (5 ft 2 in), with a standard deviation of 6.1 cm. About two thirds of women are between 151.9 and 164.1 cm. That ranks 115th of 186 countries for women.
How does South Africa compare to Nicaragua?: Men in Nicaragua average 166.7 cm, 0.0 cm more than men in South Africa. Women average 154.4 cm against 158.0 cm. Nicaragua ranks 145th, South Africa 146th.
How does South Africa compare to the world average?: The global mean is 171.0 cm for men and 159.0 cm for women. Men in South Africa are 4.3 cm shorter than that, women 1.0 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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🇿🇦Average height in South Africa