5’2” (157.5cm) is below average for a woman in the US and UK, about 6cm under both averages, but it is far from rare. In the CDC/NHANES US reference it sits at roughly the 27th percentile: about 1 in 4 women are this height or shorter. In much of Asia and Latin America it is average or above.
How 5’2” compares with national averages
The figures use this site’s country dataset (NCD-RisC 2019 cohort, age 19) and the CDC/NHANES US adult median. The last column shows how far 5’2” (157.48cm) sits from each.
| Measure | Height | 5’2” is |
|---|---|---|
| US adult female median (CDC/NHANES) | 161.9cm | 4.4cm below |
| US average (NCD-RisC) | 163.3cm | 5.8cm below |
| UK average | 163.94cm | 6.5cm below |
| Netherlands | 170.36cm | 12.9cm below |
| Japan | 158.5cm | 1.0cm below |
| India | 155.18cm | 2.3cm above |
| Indonesia | 154.36cm | 3.1cm above |
| 69-country dataset average | 161.9cm | 4.4cm below |
The dataset average is an unweighted mean of the countries in this site’s file. It leans European and is not a world average.
| Name | Height |
|---|---|
| 5'2" woman | 157.5 cm |
| US average woman | 163.3 cm |
| UK average woman | 163.9 cm |
Where 5’2” sits on the US scale
These percentiles use the CDC/NHANES adult female reference (median 161.9cm).
| Height | Centimetres | US female percentile | Share of women taller |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5’0” | 152.4 | 9th | about 91% |
| 5’1” | 154.9 | 16th | about 84% |
| 5’2” | 157.5 | 27th | about 73% |
| 5’3” | 160.0 | 40th | about 60% |
| 5’4” | 162.6 | 54th | about 46% |
| 5’5” | 165.1 | 67th | about 33% |
Each extra inch between 5’0” and 5’4” adds roughly 7 to 14 percentile points. The reference is a single aggregate for all adults aged 20 and over, so it does not account for the small height loss that many people see in later life.
Check your own height and age in the calculator below.
This reference covers ages 2-20; using the nearest available data point for age 30.
Percentile
27th
At 157.5 cm and age 30, you are taller than approximately 27% of the CDC reference population for your sex.
z-score -0.62
Is 5’2” short in the UK?
Against the UK average of 163.94cm (5’4.5”), yes, it is a little under. The 6.5cm gap is real but sits well inside the normal spread. Adult women’s heights cluster in a band of roughly 5’0” to 5’8” in most Western countries, and 5’2” is in the lower half of that band.
For a UK view by age, including how the average changes through childhood, see average height in the UK by age and sex. The matching question for the other end of the scale is covered in is 5’5” tall for a woman.
Why “short” depends on where you are
Average female height differs by more than 20cm between the lowest and highest countries in this dataset: Guatemala is 149.4cm and the Netherlands is 170.36cm. The same 157.5cm reading is above the average in Nepal (150.9cm), Bangladesh (152.38cm) and the Philippines (154.14cm), roughly average in Japan, Mexico (158cm) and Vietnam (158.43cm), and below average in Germany (166.18cm).
Nutrition and healthcare in childhood explain much of the variation between countries, alongside genetics. That is also why average height has risen over generations in countries where living standards improved. None of this says anything about an individual woman.
Does footwear change the comparison?
All heights on this page are barefoot. Heels add their own height: a 5cm heel makes a 5’2” woman stand at about 5’4” (162.5cm). On the comparison board you can switch a subject to “in shoes” and set the heel height, so you can see the barefoot and shod heights together.
If you are checking your own height, measure without shoes against a flat wall, as described in how to measure your height accurately at home. Remember too that you measure slightly taller in the morning than at night, as explained in why you are shorter in the evening.
A ranking, not a judgement
A percentile only describes where one number sits in a reference group. It says nothing about health, ability or worth, and this site treats every height as equally unremarkable. If you are comparing yourself with a partner, the height difference calculator gives the exact gap in both units.
How these figures were calculated
The US percentile uses the LMS method with the CDC/NHANES 2011-2014 adult female reference: M = 161.9cm, S = 0.043944, L = 1. For 157.48cm the z-score is (157.48 / 161.9 - 1) / 0.043944 = -0.62, which converts to the 26.7th percentile through the standard normal distribution. As with the male adult reference on this site, S is estimated from published percentile columns, so treat the result as a close approximation.
Country averages come from this site’s dataset, compiled from NCD-RisC’s 2019 cohort figures (age 19). Inches convert at exactly 2.54cm. The clothing-size note about “petite” reflects common retail practice and is not a standard. Last reviewed 25 October 2026.
Try the percentile calculator, rank your height by country or open the comparison board to see 5’2” beside any height.