Global study of tallest people shows Australians are going up in the world


Australia's population has grown taller and taller over the past century, thanks to improved healthcare, nutrition and hygiene.

A global height analysis of 200 countries quite literally measured the average growth of global populations from 1914 to 2014, with every country recording an increase in height.

Australia's height has shot up over the past 100 years.

Australia's height has shot up over the past 100 years.

Australian men stand tall as the only non-Europeans in the top 25, coming in at number 18, while Australian women jumped from 29th to 15th place.

According to the study, published in science journal eLife, Dutch men (182.5 centimetres) and Latvian women (169.8 centimetres) are the tallest in the world on average.


The study found a strong correlation between the height and health of a country's population. While height is partly due to genetics, "children and adolescents who are malnourished, or who suffer from serious diseases, will generally be shorter as adults," the researchers said.

The biggest movers were Iranian men, who grew an average of 16.5 centimetres, and South Korean women, who grew a whopping 20.1 centimetres to 162.3 centimetres, in the process shooting up from 196th to 55th in the global rankings.

But some barely grew at all. Women in countries like Madagascar and the Philippines increased by less than one centimetre in 100 years, while men in poorer countries like Laos, Nepal and Timor-Leste remain among the world's shortest.

While all countries' populations grew over the century, some sub-Saharan and Middle Eastern countries actually declined in average height in the past 30 years.


Interestingly, a number of high-income countries such as the United States plateaued in the past 40 years, the study found.


The study found that "taller people generally live longer, are less likely to suffer from heart disease and stroke, and taller women and their children are less likely to have complications during and after birth. Taller people may also earn more and be more successful at school. However, they are also more likely to develop some cancers."

On average, men are taller than women in every country.

The study identified "a need to better understand why height has changed in different countries by different amounts, and use this information to improve nutrition and health across the world."

The analysis was based on almost 1500 studies, measuring people born between 1896 and 1996.

An interactive graphic can be viewed here.

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