Average penis size by country: worldwide comparison

► Interactive map

Penis sizes by origin

How to measure

In principle, the length is always measured on the upper side from the root of the shaft to the tip of the glans. If there is a fat pad above the root, this may be slightly pressed in during measurement. To measure the circumference, one usually takes the circumference at the root. In some studies, the circumference of the glans was measured instead, which is why this information would be very contradictory and was therefore not included in the evaluation.

Relation to body height

Only a few studies have been able to establish a correlation between body size and penis length. If at all, the correlation is marginal. Some studies even explicitly point out that they have not found a correlation. The table above can confirm this to some extent. The shortest lengths are found in countries with a similarly small body size. From an erect length of about 12 cm no dependence can be detected.

A relation to the body mass index was also almost never found. The research is rather disagreeing here. While in most studies a relationship was explicitly denied, an Indian study from 2007 (Promodu, Shanmughadas, Bhat, Nair) showed a slight correlation. In contrast, an Italian study from 2001 (Ponchietti, Mondaini, Bonafè, Di Loro, Biscioni, Masieri) found an inverse relationship.

The situation is similar with age: Hardly any of the studies could find a connection to the age of the test persons.

Erect or flaccid? Flesh or blood?

Mathematically speaking, the stiff length of 13.6 cm is about 1.5 times as long as the flaccid length (Ø 9.3 cm). As a rule, one can only roughly deduce the erect size from the flaccid penis. The terms blood penis (so-called "grower") and flesh penis (the "shower") are often used for this. Especially the grower is smaller in the flaccid state. During an erection, a relatively large amount of blood flows into the erectile tissue, causing it to grow. The shower is already quite large in a normal state and changes mainly its hardness, but not its length. This difference is mainly due to climatic conditions. About 80% of men have a blood penis and live predominantly in cold regions.

Comparison with other body parts

It is often claimed that the length of the male limb can be determined by the size of the shoe or the length of the index finger. In 3 of the more than 40 studies evaluated here a connection to the length of the index finger was determined at all. An Iranian study (2006: Mehraban, Salehi, Zayeri) could detect a minimal correlation. A study from Korea (2011: Choi, Kim KH, Jung, Yoon SJ, Kim SW, Kim TB) found no evidence of a dependence on the index finger. The latter study curiously found an inverse dependence to the length of the middle and ring finger.

The parallel to shoe size, which is so often assumed in the vernacular, is equally unclear. No connection was found here either.

Data sources

In this evaluation, the results of numerous studies have been evaluated and made relative to the number of their probands. Wherever possible, sources where skipped when they were based on self-reported measurements. The collected values should roughly illustrate the relationship between penile sizes and origin, instead of giving an exact evaluation. In some cases there were only a few dozens of test persons in a country, which doesn't allow a representative survey.

• Am I normal? (BJU International)
• Various studies (PubMed)
• World Penis Average Size Studies Database (everyoneweb.com, 9/2016)
• Penis des Menschen (Wikipedia, german)
• SurveyMonkey
• Journal of Urology 2011, 2013
• University Agostinho Neto 2001
• Journal of Se*ology 2006
• Urologie Health Care Service Armenia
• Analysis of various studies on penissizes.org