The average height in France is calculated at 5 feet 7.83 inches, which is far shorter than a lot of individuals in other European regions. Check out their female’s and males’ average height now.
Compared to many other Asian countries, France has a higher average height for both males and females. But when compared to other nations in different European regions, French people seem to be shorter than a lot of Europeans.
So, what is the average height in France? Let’s find out their standard size these days right away.
Key Takeaway
- French people have an average height of 5 feet 7.83 inches (approx. 172.31 cm)
- French men have an average height of 5 feet 10.76 inches (approx. 179.73 cm), while French women typically have an average height of 5 feet 4 inches (approx. 162.5 cm).
The French Are Becoming Taller But Getting Fatter
According to a lot of fashion designers, French people, in reality, are not relatively as slim as you might all expect.
Particularly, a key fashion industry survey calculated approx. 12,000 individuals in France with 3-D imaging. The primary purpose of this survey is to assist garment designers in better knowing their customers’ shapes and sizes.
As per the study, females and males in France are becoming taller and taller. At the same time, their body weights are also increasing more and more. In particular, the dress size for average French females has increased a full size since 1970.
Besides, there was another key body measurement campaign in the fashion industry that was carried out in 1970. Accordingly, the current sizes of French people are out of fashion. Specificially, Jean-Pierre Mocho, widely known as the head of Pret a Porter Paris, says no one should feel unusual or confused if he or she doesn’t comfortably match the sizes provided.
As per Mocho, garments should be as comfortable as possible. And in reality, they will sound like a breakthrough idea. Particularly, it is linked to everybody’s new expectations, which is the urgent need for happiness.
In general, the average height of French females increased just a little bit over the past few decades. Specifically, they used to be 5 feet 2.5 inches (approx. 158.75 cm) on average and weighted 133.6 lbs (approx. 60.6 kg) in 1970.
Even so, these days they stand only above 5 feet 3 inches (approx. 160 cm) and weigh around 137.6 lbs (approx. 62.41 kg). Most notably, French females’ waistline sizes have increased. Particularly, it has become thicker.
Basically, there are various causes for these shifts in French’s average height. But here are a few major reasons: the population has become more variable due to immigration, changing eating habits, and more availability to physical activities and sports as well.
As a lot of you might know, France has been filled with hundreds of burger places. Therefore, instead of spending time enjoying dinner at the table with other family members, they tend to spend more time with their junk food in front of the TV.
Having said that, French females these days tend to have a gorgeous body proportion. In general, this is because they are getting taller and looking sportier than they were before, as per Pierre Cardin, a famous fashion designer. What’s more, he even said that regardless of body size and weight, a perfect woman is simply the one you love.
Anorexia is a Troubling Issue in France
In addition to these results, you might notice that anorexia is also another growing problem in France. According to the study, only above 8% of French females aged between 15 and 25 years old have anorexia problems.
Let’s take the average height of French males, for instance. In particular, they used to stand almost 5 feet 6 inches (approx. 167.64 cm) and weighed 158.7 lbs (approx. 71.99 kg) on average in 1970. Having said that, these averages increased to 5 feet 7.5 inches (approx. 171.45 cm) and 170.6 lbs (approx. 77.38 kg).
In terms of being overweight, the proportion for French males is one out of three while it is one out of four for French females.
According to the project manager of the research, Patrick Robinet, the rate of becoming fatter of French males and females is faster than that of getting taller.
As a few of you might know, Brazil, China, and Japan are among the three major nations importing fashions from France. And these are also three countries having smaller people than French. In other words, French males and females are bigger than people from the three countries above. Americans and Britons, on the other hand, are bigger than French people.
For instance, American females stand 5 feet 4 inches (approx. 162.56 cm) on average and weigh around 164.3 lbs (approx. 74.53 kg) on average. These fingers are based on research by the National Center for Health Statistics in 2004.
To make sure that the population taking part in the study is a mix, researchers calculated the data based on different individuals all over France. Accordingly, these participants are from various locations throughout France, with ages between 5 and 70 years old.
Particularly, the study was conducted between 2003 and 2005. Basically, it was authorized by the French Association of the Clothing Industry and conducted by the French Institute of Textiles and Clothing. Using the most advanced 3-D imaging technology, researchers found 85 various calculations.
How Tall Are French Compared to Other People in Europe?
As a few of you might know, Europeans have been through significant health improvements over the past century. Particularly, young adult men these days stand approx. 11 cm taller than their equivalents were a hundred years ago. Notably, the table down below shows and clarifies outstanding long-term tendencies when it comes to the average height in France.
With a lot of concentration on healthcare studies on aging people (let’s take Breyer et al. 2011, for instance), we might be pardoned for being unable to follow the younger generations. Nevertheless, just a glimpse of their way can also disclose some impressive trends.
Nowadays, young French people are usually taller than they were before. As a few of you might know, you might be considered exceptionally tall if you stood 6 feet (approx. 183 cm) in previous days. Having said that, this height is currently just a little bit higher than the standard size in a few nations.
Besides, this phase has been kept on in Western Europe for up to 5 continuous generations. And in fact, this is less known. In particular, the basic size of young adult men, as a few of you might know, has gone up approx. 4 inches (or around 11 cm) in the past hundred years, according to new figures. In fact, this is widely regarded as a notable and exceptional breakthrough when it comes to the average height of humans.
There are different ways to measure the average height of French people in long-term trends. In particular, researchers typically look at various aspects. Some of them might be the height of various groups even further in the past or at one point in time. Besides, they might look at military recruits’ sizes in various years. And that is the key reason why they just consider men.
In particular, the new set of data studied here uses a mixture of different approaches to obtain a new long-term chain for men with an average age of around 21 years old. The result is shown in the table down below. Accordingly, nations in the Northern and Middle of the European region saw an increase in height. Specifically, it increased 11 cm, from 168 cm (approx. 5 feet 6.1 inches) for males who were born at the beginning of the 1870s to approx. 179 cm (approx. 5 feet 10.5 inches) for those who were born in the late 1970s.
Accordingly, the document about human beings’ height typically determines two direct determining factors of size, including disease and nutrition. In reality, a lot of you might know that nutrition has a clear effect on our height in general. Nevertheless, the first determinant typically works through illness that decreases the body’s capability of changing food into tissue and bone during babyhood and childhood.
Needless to say, a lot of you might all know that genetics plays a huge role in deciding the differences in a person’s height. Even so, socioeconomic conditions are also another major cause that affects the trend toward average height. In particular, it directly affects our general height in two different ways of disease and nutrition.
A deeper look at the fundamental tendencies in height discloses an intriguing mystery. As you can see in the table down below, the period from 1911 to 1915 and 1951 to 1955 saw the most rapid increase in size in middle and northern Europe. In fact, this seems a little bit surprising because that time was widely known as a time of slightly slow development in height due to the Great Depression and the 2 World Wars.
By contrast, the period from the 1950s, a time that saw developments in medical appliances, the emergency of national health services, and above all faster growth in living standards, was accompanied by a more modest trend in average height. For southern Europe (which here includes France), the tendency in height increased across every of these key times.
On the other hand, the period since the 1950s with enhancements in medical technology, the introduction of nationwide health services, and, most importantly, the quick rise in the standard of living has been linked to a smaller tendency in normal height. However, you can see a slight tendency to increase in size during every one of these key periods in the southern areas of Europe (including France, of course).
Trends in height in France and other regions in Europe (cm per decade):
| From 1871-1875 to1976-1980 | From 1871-1875 to1911-1915 | From 1911-1915 to1951-1955 | From 1951-1955 to1976-1980 | |
| Northern Europe | 1.24 cm | 0.84 cm | 1.43 cm | 0.99 cm |
| Middle Europe | 1.13 cm | 0.80 cm | 1.36 cm | 1.02 cm |
| Southern Europe | 1.12 cm | 0.68 cm | 1.05 cm | 1.70 cm |
Note: The growth rates are calculated by modifying linear trends, with firm nation effects. The grouping of nations includes Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, and France; Middle of Europe: Ireland, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, and Austria; and Northern Europe: Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Finland, and Denmark.
