Average Height of Women Worldwide

Good height not only plays a vital role in building an impressive personality, but also indicates a sound growth of an individual. In medical diagnosis, height is of immense importance. However, height cannot be the sole determining factor of a person's health, as there are several factors which affect the height of an individual. In human beings, women are naturally shorter than men. This is true irrespective of the ethnicity or geographic location.

Average Height of Women in Different Countries

We have listed the average height of women in several countries along with description for three major countries.

Average Height of American Women
As per the figures published by the National Center for Health Statistics, the average height for an adult female in the United States is about 63.8 inches or 5 feet 3.8 inches, which comes to about 164 cms. North American women are a tad taller with an average height of about 5 feet 4.6 inches. This data is for adult females in the age group of 20 to 29.

Average Height of Canadian Women
At 5 feet 3.4 inches, Canadian women are only a few centimeters shorter than American women. When expressed in centimeters, this comes to around 161 cms. This data is for adult females in the age group of 20 to 29.

Average Height of Indian Women
Indian women, though taller in the continent are shorter by American-European standards. An average Indian woman measures about 5 feet 1 - 2 inches, which is the maximum in the continent of Asia. This data is for adult females in the age group of 20 to 29.

• China 5ft 0.8''
• Japan 5ft 1.6''
• Germany 5ft 4.9''
• France 5ft 3.7''
• Iran 5ft 3''
• Iraq 5ft 1.3''
• Italy 5ft 4.2''
• Australia 5ft 4.5''
• Belgium 5ft 4.3''
• South Africa 5ft 2.5'
• Sweden 5ft 5.7''
• Netherlands 5ft 6.4''
• New Zealand 5ft 5''
• England 5ft 4.4''
  
  
  

Ethnicity
People belonging to particular ethnic groups inherit most of the traits of that ethnic group. Likewise, women of African-American origin are taller than women of other ethnicities. Similarly, North European women are taller than those from rest of the Europe.

Genetic Composition
Heredity plays a very important role in determining the height of an individual. If you have tall parents, then you are most likely to inherit their height. Similarly, your grandparents' height also matter a lot when you analyze the genetic composition and its effects on the human height.

Nutrition
Nutrition of women is a major issue of concern, especially among underdeveloped nations. In the absence of proper nutrition, women in these countries report a stunted growth. Thus, your nutrition also plays a pivotal role in determining your height.

Depending upon the above mentioned factors, the average height of women throughout the world shows significant fluctuations. While ethnicity is a primary determinant of height, malnutrition in third world countries often results in poor growth in women.

Note: The above parameters are only indicative of your average height. Your individual height may or may not adhere to these parameters.

The average height of population changes every 2 - 3 decades. An increasing trend in the height has been reported so far. According to the research done by National Center for Health Statistics, the average height of an American female has rose from 5 ft 3" in 1960 to 5 ft 4" in 2002. All the figures mentioned in this article are as per the statistics and surveys conducted in year 2002. Thus, these figures are likely to become obsolete within the next few years.