What is the average height for a 19 year old female?
Worldwide, the average 19 year old woman was 158.6 cm (5 ft 2.5 in) tall in 2019, according to the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), a network of health scientists that pooled 2,181 measurement studies covering 65 million people in 200 countries [1][2]. That is the figure on the map above.
The average depends a lot on where you live. In the UK the average 19 year old woman was 163.9 cm (5 ft 4.5 in) and in the US 163.3 cm (5 ft 4.3 in) [1]. In the Netherlands, the tallest country, it was 170.4 cm (5 ft 7.1 in), and in Guatemala, the shortest, 150.9 cm (4 ft 11.4 in), a gap of 19.4 cm (our arithmetic from the NCD-RisC data) [1].
Average height of 19 year old females by country
As the map shows, the tallest young women live mostly in northern and central Europe, and the shortest in South and Southeast Asia, Central America and parts of East Africa. These are the NCD-RisC estimates for girls aged 19 in 2019; feet and inches are our conversion [1].
Tallest countries
| Country | Average height (cm) | Feet and inches |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 170.4 | 5 ft 7.1 in |
| Montenegro | 170.0 | 5 ft 6.9 in |
| Denmark | 169.5 | 5 ft 6.7 in |
| Iceland | 168.9 | 5 ft 6.5 in |
| Latvia | 168.8 | 5 ft 6.5 in |
| Estonia | 168.7 | 5 ft 6.4 in |
| Serbia | 168.3 | 5 ft 6.3 in |
| Czech Republic | 168.0 | 5 ft 6.1 in |
| Lithuania | 167.6 | 5 ft 6.0 in |
| American Samoa | 167.6 | 5 ft 6.0 in |
Selected countries
| Country | Average height (cm) | Feet and inches |
|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 166.7 | 5 ft 5.6 in |
| Germany | 166.2 | 5 ft 5.4 in |
| Canada | 164.7 | 5 ft 4.9 in |
| Australia | 164.7 | 5 ft 4.8 in |
| Russia | 164.5 | 5 ft 4.8 in |
| Ireland | 164.5 | 5 ft 4.8 in |
| France | 164.5 | 5 ft 4.8 in |
| United Kingdom | 163.9 | 5 ft 4.5 in |
| China | 163.5 | 5 ft 4.4 in |
| United States | 163.3 | 5 ft 4.3 in |
| South Korea | 163.2 | 5 ft 4.3 in |
| Brazil | 162.4 | 5 ft 3.9 in |
| Spain | 162.0 | 5 ft 3.8 in |
| Italy | 161.8 | 5 ft 3.7 in |
| Japan | 158.5 | 5 ft 2.4 in |
| Nigeria | 158.1 | 5 ft 2.3 in |
| Mexico | 157.9 | 5 ft 2.2 in |
| India | 155.2 | 5 ft 1.1 in |
| Pakistan | 154.8 | 5 ft 0.9 in |
| Indonesia | 154.4 | 5 ft 0.8 in |
| Philippines | 154.1 | 5 ft 0.7 in |
Shortest countries
| Country | Average height (cm) | Feet and inches |
|---|---|---|
| Madagascar | 153.1 | 5 ft 0.3 in |
| Timor-Leste | 152.7 | 5 ft 0.1 in |
| Nepal | 152.4 | 5 ft 0.0 in |
| Bangladesh | 152.4 | 5 ft 0.0 in |
| Guatemala | 150.9 | 4 ft 11.4 in |
These are modelled estimates, so each comes with a margin of error. For the Netherlands, for example, the 95% uncertainty interval runs from about 168.3 to 172.4 cm [1].
Average height of a 19 year old female in the UK and US
A typical 19 year old woman is 163.9 cm (5 ft 4.5 in) in the UK and 163.3 cm (5 ft 4.3 in) in the US, on NCD-RisC’s 2019 estimates [1]. Both are about 5 cm above the global average. Young men of the same age average 178.2 cm in the UK and 176.9 cm in the US, roughly 13 to 14 cm taller [1].
The CDC’s measured average for American women aged 20 and over is 63.5 inches (161.3 cm) [3]. That covers women of all adult ages, so it isn’t directly comparable with the figure for 19 year olds.
Do girls still grow at 19?
Very little. Most girls reach close to their adult height by their mid to late teens. In the NCD-RisC data, the average UK girl is 162.9 cm at 15, 163.9 cm at 17 and 163.9 cm at 19, so almost all growth has finished by 17 [1]. Worldwide the figures rise a little more slowly, from 156.7 cm at 15 to 158.0 cm at 17 and 158.6 cm at 19 [1].
Why are some countries taller than others?
Height is partly inherited, but the NCD-RisC researchers conclude that the very different growth patterns between countries reflect differences in nutrition, with lifelong advantages and risks for health that follow from them [2]. Their data also show how much a country’s average can change within a single generation.
The trends show this clearly. Between 1985 and 2019 the average height of 19 year old women rose from 157.4 cm to 163.5 cm in China and from 157.1 cm to 163.2 cm in South Korea, gains of about 6 cm in one generation. In India it rose from 151.5 cm to 155.2 cm, while in the US it barely moved, from 163.0 cm to 163.3 cm [1]. Globally, the average for 19 year old women went from 156.5 cm in 1985 to 158.6 cm in 2019 [1]. The study picks out girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as having some of the healthiest changes since 1985, because their height rose much more than their body mass index. At the other end, girls in the US, Mexico, New Zealand and many countries in sub-Saharan Africa had some of the least healthy changes: too little gain in height, too much weight for their height, or both [2].
Questions about average height for 19 year old females
What’s the average height for a 19 year old female in cm?
158.6 cm worldwide in 2019. It is 163.9 cm in the UK, 163.3 cm in the US and 170.4 cm in the Netherlands [1].
What is the average American female height?
For American women aged 20 and over, the CDC’s measured average is 63.5 inches, about 5 ft 3.5 in or 161.3 cm [3]. For 19 year olds the NCD-RisC estimate is 163.3 cm (5 ft 4.3 in) [1].
Is 5 ft 4 in short for a 19 year old girl?
No. 5 ft 4 in is 162.6 cm, which is above the global average of 158.6 cm and close to the averages for the US (163.3 cm) and the UK (163.9 cm) [1].
Can a 19 year old girl still grow taller?
Usually only by a fraction of a centimetre. On average, UK girls are the same height at 17 as at 19 [1].
Which country has the tallest 19 year old women?
The Netherlands, at 170.4 cm (5 ft 7.1 in), followed by Montenegro, Denmark and Iceland [1].
Sources
- NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, Height data downloads, country and global age-specific files (2020 release): girls and boys, age 19, 1985 and 2019.
- NCD-RisC, Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories, The Lancet, 2020.
- CDC National Center for Health Statistics, FastStats: Body Measurements (data from August 2021 to August 2023).
Last reviewed 3 November 2026
