Worldwide, adult men are 12.3 cm (4.8″) taller than adult women on average (169.0 vs 156.7 cm). But the gap varies almost threefold between countries — from 16.3 cm in Puerto Rico to 5.7 cm in Mauritania (181 countries with more than 100,000 adults).
👉 See where you rank among your own sex — and among all adults: heightscore.com/en
Largest gaps
| Country | Men | Women | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | 175.0 cm | 158.7 cm | 16.3 cm |
| Türkiye | 173.4 cm | 158.0 cm | 15.5 cm |
| North Macedonia | 174.1 cm | 159.0 cm | 15.1 cm |
| El Salvador | 168.5 cm | 153.5 cm | 15.1 cm |
| Morocco | 173.4 cm | 158.4 cm | 15.0 cm |
| Ireland | 177.1 cm | 162.3 cm | 14.9 cm |
Smallest gaps
| Country | Men | Women | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mauritania | 165.3 cm | 159.6 cm | 5.7 cm |
| Gambia | 167.6 cm | 160.9 cm | 6.8 cm |
| Timor-Leste | 158.6 cm | 150.8 cm | 7.8 cm |
| Papua New Guinea | 163.3 cm | 155.4 cm | 7.9 cm |
| Solomon Islands | 163.7 cm | 155.3 cm | 8.4 cm |
Familiar countries: Netherlands 13.4 · US 13.7 · Germany 14.3 · UK 14.3 · Japan 13.9 · China 11.8 · India 11.7 cm. The median country gap is 12.5 cm.
This is why HeightScore always shows two ranks: among people of your own sex, and among all adults.
Method: country means from NCD-RisC age-19 height series by birth cohort, weighted with UN WPP 2024 age structure, with mild shrinkage after 40. These are model estimates built from measurement surveys; uncertainty is larger where surveys are few. Details: heightscore.com/en/methodology