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Bill Bostock and Jenny McGrath
Updated
2023-10-09T20:49:48Z
- Height varies a lot around the world — and some countries have a definite lead.
- Using medical data, Insider calculated the mean height for the 25 tallest countries.
- Many of the countries with the tallest people are found in Europe.
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At nearly 8 feet 3 inches tall, Sultan Kösen, who hails from Turkey, may be the tallest person on the planet.
Despite his commanding size, his country doesn't make the list of those with the tallest people.
Insider used mean height data from the medical database NCD Risk Factor Collaboration to find the countries with the tallest people. The project collected information on metrics like height, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels from over 2,500 population surveys from 193 countries.
The NCD lists separate heights for 19-year-old males and females in each country. We took an average of these two figures to give a rough idea of how tall the typical person is in the country and also broke down the list by sex.
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It's also important to note that the dataset is only through 2019, and it may not include complete or fully representative information for every country.
Notably, the United States didn't make the ranking either, coming in 58th for women and 47th for men at 5 feet 4.29 inches (163.3 cm) and 5 feet 9.65 inches (176.9 cm), respectively.
These are the 25 countries that (literally) came out on top.
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25. Greece — 5 feet 7.93 inches (172.55 cm)
The mean height for men from Greece: 5 feet 10.59 inches (179.3 cm)
The mean height for women from Greece: 5 feet 5.28 inches (165.8 cm)
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24. Austria — 5 feet 7.99 inches (172.7 cm)
The mean height for men from Austria: 5 feet 10.28 inches (178.5 cm)
The mean height for women from Austria: 5 feet 5.71 inches (166.9 cm)
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22. Belarus — 5 feet 8.03 inches (172.8 cm)
The mean height for men from Belarus: 5 feet 10.35 inches (178.7 cm)
The mean height for women from Belarus: 5 feet 5.71 inches (166.9 cm)
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22. Cook Islands — 5 feet 8.03 inches (172.8 cm)
The mean height for men from the Cook Islands: 5 feet 10.19 inches (178.3 cm)
The mean height for women from the Cook Islands: 5 feet 5.87 inches (167.3 cm)
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21. Bermuda — 5 feet 8.07 inches (172.9 cm)
The mean height for men from Bermuda: 5 feet 10.75 inches (179.7 cm)
The mean height for women from Bermuda: 5 feet 5.39 inches (166.1 cm)
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19. Poland — 5 feet 8.21 inches (173.25 cm)
The mean height for men from Poland: 5 feet 11.14 inches (180.7 cm)
The mean height for women from Poland: 5 feet 5.28 inches (165.8 cm)
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19. Germany — 5 feet 8.21 inches (173.25 cm)
The mean height for men from Germany: 5 feet 10.98 inches (180.3 cm)
The mean height for women from Germany: 5 feet 5.43 inches (166.2 cm)
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18. Norway — 5 feet 8.29 inches (173.45 cm)
The mean height for men from Norway: 5 feet 11.06 inches (180.5 cm)
The mean height for women from Norway: 5 feet 5.51 inches (166.4 cm)
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17. Finland — 5 feet 8.31 inches (173.55 cm)
The mean height for men from Finland: 5 feet 11.1 inches (180.6 cm)
The mean height for women from Finland: 5 feet 5.55 inches (166.5 cm)
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16. Dominica — 5 feet 8.33 inches (173.55 cm)
The mean height for men from Dominica: 5 feet 10.94 inches (180.2 cm)
The mean height for women from Dominica: 5 feet 5.71 inches (166.9 cm)
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15. Sweden — 5 feet 8.35 inches (173.6 cm)
The mean height for men from Sweden: 5 feet 11.06 inches (180.5 cm)
The mean height for women from Sweden: 5 feet 5.63 inches (166.7 cm)
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13. Ukraine — 5 feet 8.43 inches (173.8 cm)
The mean height for men from Ukraine: 5 feet 11.26 inches (181 cm)
The mean height for women from Ukraine: 5 feet 5.59 inches (166.6 cm)
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13. Croatia — 5 feet 8.43 inches (173.8 cm)
The mean height for men from Croatia: 5 feet 11.18 inches (180.8 cm)
The mean height for women from Croatia: 5 feet 5.67 inches (166.8 cm)
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12. Slovakia — 5 feet 8.52 inches (174.05 cm)
The mean height for men from Slovakia: 5 feet 11.26 inches (181 cm)
The mean height for women from Slovakia: 5 feet 5.79 inches (167.1 cm)
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11. Slovenia — 5 feet 8.54 inches (174.1 cm)
The mean height for men from Slovenia: 5 feet 11.26 inches (181 cm)
The mean height for women from Slovenia: 5 feet 5.83 inches (167.2 cm)
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10. Lithuania — 5 feet 8.56 inches (174.15 cm)
The mean height for men from Lithuania: 5 feet 11.14 inches (180.7 cm)
The mean height for women from Lithuania: 5 feet 5.98 inches (167.6 cm)
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9. Serbia — 5 feet 8.7 inches (174.5 cm)
The mean height for men from Serbia: 5 feet 11.14 inches (180.7 cm)
The mean height for women from Serbia: 5 feet 6.26 inches (168.3 cm)
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8. Czech Republic— 5 feet 8.74 inches (174.6 cm)
The mean height for men from the Czech Republic: 5 feet 11.34 inches (181.2 cm)
The mean height for women from the Czech Republic: 5 feet 6.14 inches (168 cm)
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6. Bosnia and Herzegovina — 5 feet 8.9 inches (175 cm)
The mean height for men from Bosnia & Herzegovina: 5 feet 11.85 inches (182.5 cm)
The mean height for women from Bosnia & Herzegovina: 5 feet 5.94 inches (167.5 cm)
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6. Latvia — 5 feet 8.9 inches (175 cm)
The mean height for men from Latvia: 5 feet 11.34 inches (181.2 cm)
The mean height for women from Latvia: 5 feet 6.46 inches (168.8 cm)
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5. Iceland — 5 feet 9.09 inches (175.5 cm)
The mean height for men from Iceland: 5 feet 11.69 inches (182.1 cm)
The mean height for women from Iceland: 5 feet 6.5 inches (168.9 cm)
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4. Denmark — 5 feet 9.17 inches (175.7 cm)
The mean height for men from Denmark: 5 feet 11.61 inches (181.9 cm)
The mean height for women from Denmark: 5 feet 6.73 inches (169.5 cm)
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Estonia — 5 feet 9.19 inches (175.75 cm)
The mean height for men from Estonia: 5 feet 11.97 inches (182.8 cm)
The mean height for women from Estonia: 5 feet 6.42 inches (168.7 cm)
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2. Montenegro — 5 feet 9.55 inches (176.65 cm)
The mean height for men from Montenegro: 6 feet 0.17 inches (183.3 cm)
The mean height for women from Montenegro: 5 feet 6.93 inches (170 cm)
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1. The Netherlands — 5 feet 9.72 inches (177.1 cm)
The mean height for men from the Netherlands: 6 feet 0.36 inches (183.8 cm)
The mean height for women from the Netherlands: 5 feet 7.09 inches (170.4 cm)
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A note on mean versus average heights: Using the mean heights instead of average gives a sense of which countries have the most people who are tall. In Iceland, for example, you'll find many men who are 5 feet 11 inches.
The list would look a little different if we had ranked by average heights. The Federal Statistical Office of Germany calculates heights by average, for example, and the results would bump the country up in the rankings by several spots.
This post has been updated. It was originally published in 2019.
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