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Average height in United Kingdom

Men in United Kingdom average 177.5 cm (5 ft 10 in), women 164.4 cm (5 ft 5 in). That puts United Kingdom 31st of 186 countries in our data.

Key numbers

Men
177.5 cm
5 ft 10 in
Women
164.4 cm
5 ft 5 in
SD, men / women
7.1 / 6.5
cm
vs global mean
+6.5 cm
women +5.4 cm
Rank, men
31 of 186
women 35 of 186
Men minus women
13.1 cm
global 12.0 cm

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United Kingdom 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
30New Zealand177.7164.9Oceania
31United Kingdom177.5164.4Europe
32Austria177.4164.6Europe
33French Polynesia177.4164.5Oceania
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 United Kingdom

Share of adults shorter than each height, estimated from mean and SD
Heightft inShorter menShorter women
160 cm5 ft 3 in1%25%
165 cm5 ft 5 in4%54%
170 cm5 ft 7 in15%81%
175 cm5 ft 9 in36%95%
180 cm5 ft 11 in64%99%
185 cm6 ft 1 in85%>99%
190 cm6 ft 3 in96%>99%
195 cm6 ft 5 in99%>99%
200 cm6 ft 7 in>99%>99%

Read it as: a man of 185 cm in United Kingdom is taller than 85% of men. Values under 1% or over 99% are shown as <1 and >99.

In plain language

The standard deviation for men in United Kingdom is 7.1 cm. In practice that means about two thirds of men stand between 170.4 and 184.6 cm, and roughly 95% between 163.3 and 191.7 cm. A man of 185 cm is taller than about 84% of men here; one of 192 cm is taller than about 98%.

Men in United Kingdom are on average 13.1 cm taller than women. Compared with the global mean, men here are 6.5 cm taller and women 5.4 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 United Kingdom?
A man of 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) is taller than about 64% of men in United Kingdom. Taller than most, but ordinary. For a woman, 180 cm is taller than 99% of women in United Kingdom.
What is the average height of women in United Kingdom?
Women in United Kingdom average 164.4 cm (5 ft 5 in), with a standard deviation of 6.5 cm. About two thirds of women are between 157.9 and 170.9 cm. That ranks 35th of 186 countries for women.
How does United Kingdom compare to New Zealand?
Men in New Zealand average 177.7 cm, 0.2 cm more than men in United Kingdom. Women average 164.9 cm against 164.4 cm. New Zealand ranks 30th, United Kingdom 31st.
How does United Kingdom compare to the world average?
The global mean is 171.0 cm for men and 159.0 cm for women. Men in United Kingdom are 6.5 cm taller than that, women 5.4 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.