Average Height of a Woman

Height is the length of an individual, measured from foot to head. Good height not only plays a vital role in building an impressive personality, but also indicates a sound growth of an individual. During the child development period, the overall health of the child is determined by her height and weight. Normal height and weight indicate good development. Thus, 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. Before we delve into the number game, let's try to find out what are the factors that affect the average height of a woman.

Factors Affecting Average Height for Women

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. Asian women especially Chinese, Japanese are shorter than other women in the world.

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.

Average Height for Women Worldwide

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

Average Height of a Woman in the US	Average Height of a Woman in Canada	Average Height of a Woman in India
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.	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.	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.

Country/Region	Average Female Height
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''

The average height of a woman 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.