Average Height
Average Height in France
Men: 179.7 cm·Women: 164.9 cm
Men · 1996
179.7 cm
Women · 1996
164.9 cm
Men · 1896 baseline
166.4 cm
Women · 1896 baseline
155.3 cm
Men world rank:#14Women world rank:#26
Height trend across birth cohorts
Insights
Between 1896 and 1996, the mean adult male height in France rose from 166.4 cm to 179.7 cm — a gain of 13.3 cm over 100 years.
- The 14.8 cm gap between men and women is above the typical range.
All cohorts, 1896–1996
| Cohort | Men (cm) | Women (cm) | Gap (cm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1896 | 166.4 | 155.3 | 11.1 |
| 1897 | 166.5 | 155.4 | 11.1 |
| 1898 | 166.6 | 155.5 | 11.1 |
| 1899 | 166.7 | 155.6 | 11.1 |
| 1900 | 166.8 | 155.7 | 11.1 |
| 1901 | 166.9 | 155.8 | 11.1 |
| 1902 | 167.0 | 155.9 | 11.1 |
| 1903 | 167.1 | 155.9 | 11.2 |
| 1904 | 167.2 | 156.0 | 11.2 |
| 1905 | 167.2 | 156.1 | 11.1 |
| 1906 | 167.3 | 156.2 | 11.1 |
| 1907 | 167.4 | 156.3 | 11.1 |
| 1908 | 167.5 | 156.4 | 11.1 |
| 1909 | 167.6 | 156.5 | 11.1 |
| 1910 | 167.8 | 156.6 | 11.2 |
| 1911 | 167.9 | 156.7 | 11.2 |
| 1912 | 168.0 | 156.8 | 11.2 |
| 1913 | 168.1 | 156.9 | 11.2 |
| 1914 | 168.3 | 157.0 | 11.3 |
| 1915 | 168.4 | 157.2 | 11.2 |
| 1916 | 168.6 | 157.3 | 11.3 |
| 1917 | 168.7 | 157.4 | 11.3 |
| 1918 | 168.9 | 157.6 | 11.3 |
| 1919 | 169.0 | 157.7 | 11.3 |
| 1920 | 169.2 | 157.9 | 11.3 |
| 1921 | 169.4 | 158.1 | 11.3 |
| 1922 | 169.5 | 158.2 | 11.3 |
| 1923 | 169.7 | 158.4 | 11.3 |
| 1924 | 169.8 | 158.5 | 11.3 |
| 1925 | 170.0 | 158.7 | 11.3 |
| 1926 | 170.2 | 158.8 | 11.4 |
| 1927 | 170.3 | 159.0 | 11.3 |
| 1928 | 170.5 | 159.1 | 11.4 |
| 1929 | 170.6 | 159.3 | 11.3 |
| 1930 | 170.8 | 159.4 | 11.4 |
| 1931 | 170.9 | 159.5 | 11.4 |
| 1932 | 171.1 | 159.7 | 11.4 |
| 1933 | 171.2 | 159.8 | 11.4 |
| 1934 | 171.4 | 159.9 | 11.5 |
| 1935 | 171.6 | 160.1 | 11.5 |
| 1936 | 171.7 | 160.2 | 11.5 |
| 1937 | 171.9 | 160.3 | 11.6 |
| 1938 | 172.0 | 160.4 | 11.6 |
| 1939 | 172.2 | 160.5 | 11.7 |
| 1940 | 172.4 | 160.7 | 11.7 |
| 1941 | 172.5 | 160.8 | 11.7 |
| 1942 | 172.6 | 160.9 | 11.7 |
| 1943 | 172.8 | 161.0 | 11.8 |
| 1944 | 173.0 | 161.0 | 12.0 |
| 1945 | 173.1 | 161.1 | 12.0 |
| 1946 | 173.3 | 161.2 | 12.1 |
| 1947 | 173.4 | 161.3 | 12.1 |
| 1948 | 173.6 | 161.4 | 12.2 |
| 1949 | 173.8 | 161.5 | 12.3 |
| 1950 | 173.9 | 161.6 | 12.3 |
| 1951 | 174.1 | 161.7 | 12.4 |
| 1952 | 174.3 | 161.8 | 12.5 |
| 1953 | 174.5 | 162.0 | 12.5 |
| 1954 | 174.6 | 162.1 | 12.5 |
| 1955 | 174.8 | 162.2 | 12.6 |
| 1956 | 175.0 | 162.3 | 12.7 |
| 1957 | 175.1 | 162.5 | 12.6 |
| 1958 | 175.3 | 162.6 | 12.7 |
| 1959 | 175.5 | 162.7 | 12.8 |
| 1960 | 175.6 | 162.9 | 12.7 |
| 1961 | 175.8 | 163.0 | 12.8 |
| 1962 | 175.9 | 163.2 | 12.7 |
| 1963 | 176.1 | 163.3 | 12.8 |
| 1964 | 176.3 | 163.4 | 12.9 |
| 1965 | 176.4 | 163.5 | 12.9 |
| 1966 | 176.6 | 163.6 | 13.0 |
| 1967 | 176.7 | 163.7 | 13.0 |
| 1968 | 176.9 | 163.8 | 13.1 |
| 1969 | 177.0 | 163.9 | 13.1 |
| 1970 | 177.2 | 164.0 | 13.2 |
| 1971 | 177.3 | 164.1 | 13.2 |
| 1972 | 177.5 | 164.1 | 13.4 |
| 1973 | 177.6 | 164.2 | 13.4 |
| 1974 | 177.8 | 164.3 | 13.5 |
| 1975 | 177.9 | 164.3 | 13.6 |
| 1976 | 178.0 | 164.4 | 13.6 |
| 1977 | 178.2 | 164.4 | 13.8 |
| 1978 | 178.3 | 164.4 | 13.9 |
| 1979 | 178.4 | 164.5 | 13.9 |
| 1980 | 178.5 | 164.5 | 14.0 |
| 1981 | 178.6 | 164.5 | 14.1 |
| 1982 | 178.7 | 164.5 | 14.2 |
| 1983 | 178.8 | 164.6 | 14.2 |
| 1984 | 178.9 | 164.6 | 14.3 |
| 1985 | 179.0 | 164.6 | 14.4 |
| 1986 | 179.0 | 164.7 | 14.3 |
| 1987 | 179.1 | 164.7 | 14.4 |
| 1988 | 179.2 | 164.7 | 14.5 |
| 1989 | 179.3 | 164.7 | 14.6 |
| 1990 | 179.3 | 164.8 | 14.5 |
| 1991 | 179.4 | 164.8 | 14.6 |
| 1992 | 179.5 | 164.8 | 14.7 |
| 1993 | 179.5 | 164.8 | 14.7 |
| 1994 | 179.6 | 164.8 | 14.8 |
| 1995 | 179.7 | 164.9 | 14.8 |
| 1996 | 179.7 | 164.9 | 14.8 |
Explore by sex and age
Notable people from France with known heights
Napoleon
168 cm · 5'6"
b. 1769
Édith Piaf
147 cm · 4'10"
b. 1915
Mylène Farmer
167 cm · 5'6"
b. 1961
Claudia Cardinale
173 cm · 5'8"
b. 1938
Anna Karina
170 cm · 5'7"
b. 1940
Rigobert Song
185 cm · 6'1"
b. 1976
Roger Milla
176 cm · 5'9"
b. 1952
Vahid Halilhodžić
182 cm · 6'0"
b. 1952
Zinedine Zidane
185 cm · 6'1"
b. 1972
Sophia Loren
174 cm · 5'9"
b. 1934
Emmanuel Macron
173 cm · 5'8"
b. 1977
François Hollande
174 cm · 5'9"
b. 1954
Heights from Wikidata (property P2048). Shown for published persons sorted by priority score.
Sources & methodology
Mean adult height by birth cohort, ages 20+. Figures are modelled from pooled population-representative surveys and measurement studies compiled by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC) and published via Our World in Data.
Cohorts are labelled by birth year, not by survey year. Reported heights reflect the adult height those cohorts reached, typically measured in their 20s or 30s.
License: CC BY 4.0. Last updated: 2026-04-21.