Germany has a reputation as a tall country, and the official numbers mostly back it up. So what is the average height in Germany? According to the latest national survey, the average German man stands about 5'10.5" (179 cm) and the average German woman about 5'5" (166 cm), roughly an inch and a half taller than their American counterparts. Below, we break those figures down by sex and age, compare them with the US and the Netherlands, and look at why Germans grew so tall and whether they're still getting taller.
Key Takeaways
- The average height in Germany is about 5'8" (173 cm) for all adults, 5'10.5" (179 cm) for men, and 5'5" (166 cm) for women, based on 2025 survey data.
- Young German men aged 18 to 25 report the tallest averages, at about 5'11.5" (181 cm).
- Older age groups are shorter, partly because younger generations grew taller and partly because adults gradually lose height after about age 40.
- German men and women average roughly 1.5 to 2 inches more than American adults, though German figures are self-reported and US figures are measured.
- Average adult height in Germany has barely changed since 2017, a sign that the long rise in height has leveled off.
- Germany's 40-year division acted as a natural experiment: West Germans ended up about 1 cm taller than East Germans, and the gap began closing for men after reunification.
What Is the Average Height in Germany?
Germany's best current source is the Mikrozensus, an annual household survey that covers about 1% of the population and is run by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Its first results for 2025 put the average adult at 1.73 meters, with women averaging 1.66 meters and men 1.79 meters, a gap of about 13 cm (5 inches) between the sexes [2]. The detailed table for men gives an average of 179.1 cm [1].
| Group | Average height | In feet and inches |
|---|---|---|
| Men (18+) | 179.1 cm | 5'10.5" |
| Women (18+) | 166 cm | 5'5" |
| All adults (18+) | 173 cm | 5'8" |
| Men aged 20–25 | 181.5 cm | 5'11.5" |
Why You'll See Different Numbers for Germany
Search for the average height in Germany and you'll find figures that differ by a centimeter or two, sometimes more. That usually isn't an error. Three things explain most of the gap.
- Self-reported vs. measured. The Mikrozensus asks people for their height rather than measuring them [2]. Self-reported heights tend to run a little high: a large German study found that teenagers aged 14 to 17 overstated their height when asked [8]. Measured surveys usually come in slightly lower.
- All adults vs. young adults. Many international rankings are built around young adults, often 19-year-olds, using statistical models that pool data from many surveys [6]. Young Germans are taller than the adult average, so those rankings show higher numbers than a figure covering every adult up to age 90.
- Different years. Rankings repackaged by data websites often rely on estimates that are several years old, while the Destatis figures in this article come from 2025.
The practical takeaway: when comparing countries, check whether the numbers cover the same ages and the same method. The 2025 Destatis figures are the most current picture of German adults as a whole.
Average Height in Germany by Age
Destatis breaks the data down by age, and the pattern for men is clear. The youngest adults report the tallest averages, and the figures fall steadily after middle age.
Average height of German men by age group (2025)
Selected age groups, self-reported, Mikrozensus first results. The scale starts at 170 cm so the differences are easier to see. Hover over or tap a column for feet and inches.
Height in cm. Source: Destatis, reference 1. Dark columns: under 60; light columns: 60 and older.
Two forces explain the slope. The first is generational: people born in the 1990s and 2000s grew up with better nutrition and health care than people born in the 1940s, so they reached taller adult heights. The second is aging itself. Adults typically lose almost half an inch (about 1 cm) every 10 years after age 40, and the loss speeds up after 70, mainly because of changes in the spine, posture, muscles, and feet [3]. Destatis reports the same decline with age for adults overall [2].
How Germany Compares With the US and the Netherlands
For men and women alike, the average height in Germany is higher than in the US. US adults aged 20 and older measure about 68.9 inches (175 cm) for men and 63.5 inches (161 cm) for women in the latest national data [4]. That puts German men about 1.5 inches ahead and German women nearly 2 inches ahead, although the gap is probably a little smaller in reality, since the US figures come from actual measurements and the German ones are self-reported.
The Netherlands is still taller. It ranks among the countries with the tallest young adults in the world for both sexes [6], and Dutch 19-year-olds report averages of 182.9 cm for men and 169.3 cm for women [5]. Young German men, by comparison, report about 181 cm. For the bigger picture, see our world ranking of average heights by country.
| Country | Men | Women | How measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany (adults 18+) | 179.1 cm (5'10.5") | 166 cm (5'5") | Self-reported, 2025 |
| United States (adults 20+) | 175 cm (5'8.9") | 161.3 cm (5'3.5") | Measured, 2021–2023 |
| Netherlands (19-year-olds) | 182.9 cm (6'0") | 169.3 cm (5'6.7") | Self-reported, 2020 |
Keep in mind that the rows describe different age groups and methods, so treat the table as a rough comparison rather than an exact ranking.
Why Are Germans So Tall?
Genetics sets most of the range for any individual. Scientists estimate that about 80% of the variation in height between people comes from inherited DNA [7]. For more on how that inheritance works within a family, see whether height comes from mom or dad.
Genes can't explain why a whole population grows taller over a few generations, though, because the gene pool doesn't change that fast. That part comes down to the conditions children grow up in: steady access to nutritious food, clean water, medical care, and fewer serious childhood illnesses. Germany offers an unusually clear example of this, because for four decades it was split in two.
East vs. West: A Natural Experiment
East and West Germans shared the same genetic background but lived under very different economic and health systems from 1949 to 1990. Economic historians John Komlos and Peter Kriwy used that split to compare heights. Using a 1998 national health survey in which more than 6,600 adults were measured by professionals, they found that West Germans were taller in almost every social and regional group, by about 1 cm on average [9]. The gap widened among people born in the 1960s, after the Berlin Wall went up, and was largest among men in rural villages.
After reunification, the gap began to close for men. Among 19-year-old military recruits, West Germans were 1.2 cm taller in 1992–93, but only about 0.5 cm taller by the late 1990s [9]. The difference was small throughout, which itself is telling: even with lower incomes, East Germans were roughly as tall as Americans, the researchers noted.
North, South, and Social Differences
Height in Germany still varies a little by region and background. An analysis of the German Socio-Economic Panel found a west–east and a north–south gradient in height, and linked lower maternal education and lower household income with shorter stature among West Germans [10]. These differences are small next to the gap between Germany and shorter countries, but they show how strongly childhood circumstances shape adult height, even within one wealthy nation.
Are Germans Still Getting Taller?
Not by much. The average height in Germany was 1.72 meters for adults in 2017 and 1.73 meters in both 2021 and 2025 [2]. Within the 2025 data, men in their 30s and 40s report almost the same average as men in their early 20s, about 180 cm versus 181 cm, so recent generations haven't gained much on the ones just before them.
That fits a wider pattern in wealthy countries. Once nutrition and health care are consistently good, average height tends to plateau. Even in the Netherlands, height stopped rising for generations born after the early 1980s.
What the Numbers Mean for Your Family
National averages describe millions of people, so they say very little about how tall any one child will be. A child's own growth depends mostly on the height of their parents, plus the nutrition, sleep, activity, and overall health they have while growing. If you're curious where your child's height may be heading, our height predictor calculator gives a rough estimate based on both parents' heights. If a child seems to be growing much more slowly than expected, a pediatrician can track their growth properly over time.
Final Thoughts
The average height in Germany is about 5'10.5" (179 cm) for men and 5'5" (166 cm) for women, which places Germans comfortably above Americans and a little below the Dutch. Younger Germans are the tallest, older Germans are shorter for both generational and age-related reasons, and the national average has held steady for several years. Like every country's height story, Germany's is mostly about genes, shaped and supported by the conditions children grow up in.
References
1. Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis). (2026). Körpermaße nach Altersgruppen: Männer. Mikrozensus 2025, first results. destatis.de
2. Evangelischer Pressedienst (epd). (2026, June 2). Durchschnittsmensch nimmt zu, wird aber nicht größer [Report on Destatis Mikrozensus 2025 results]. evangelisch.de
3. MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Aging changes in body shape. medlineplus.gov
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. FastStats: Body measurements (data from August 2021–August 2023). cdc.gov
5. Statistics Netherlands (CBS). (2021). How tall are Dutch people? The Netherlands in Numbers 2021. longreads.cbs.nl
6. NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). (2020). Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories. The Lancet, 396(10261), 1511–1524. eprints.gla.ac.uk
7. MedlinePlus Genetics, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Is height determined by genetics? medlineplus.gov
8. Validity and predictors of BMI derived from self-reported height and weight among 11- to 17-year-old German adolescents from the KiGGS study. (2011). BMC Research Notes, 4, 414. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-4-414
9. Komlos, J., & Kriwy, P. (2003). The biological standard of living in the two Germanies. German Economic Review, 4(4), 459–473. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-6485.2003.00089.x epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de
10. Heineck, G. (2006). Height and weight in Germany, evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel, 2002. Economics & Human Biology, 4(3), 359–382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2006.05.001
