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
Roman Polanski
160 cm · 5'3"
b. 1933
Alain Delon
177 cm · 5'10"
b. 1935
Claudia Cardinale
173 cm · 5'8"
b. 1938
Yannick Noah
194 cm · 6'4"
b. 1960
Zinedine Zidane
185 cm · 6'1"
b. 1972
Isack Hadjar
167 cm · 5'6"
b. 2004
Gérard Depardieu
180 cm · 5'11"
b. 1948
Emmanuel Macron
173 cm · 5'8"
b. 1977
François Hollande
174 cm · 5'9"
b. 1954
Adil Rami
190 cm · 6'3"
b. 1985
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.