Which Nations Have The Shortest Populations?
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu, ranks the 20 shortest countries in the world, by average height.
Data comes from NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, compiled by Business Insider.
Note that the rankings are based on average person height (men and women combined). For context, the global average height of a human is 5 feet 4 inches.
Ranking the Countries with the Shortest Average Height
With an average height of 5 feet 3 inches for men and 4 feet 11.5 inches for women, Timor-Leste is the shortest country in the world.
A quick look at the rankings reveal that many of the shortest countries are found in Asia and Africa.
| Rank | Country | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇹🇱 Timor-Leste | 5' 2.9" (159.8 cm) | 4' 11.5" (151.2 cm) |
| 2 | 🇱🇦 Laos | 5' 3.2" (160.5 cm) | 4' 11.6" (151.3 cm) |
| 3 | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | 5' 3.6" (161.5 cm) | 4' 11.5" (151.2 cm) |
| 4 | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | 5' 4.3" (163.4 cm) | 4' 10.8" (149.4 cm) |
| 5 | 🇵🇭 Philippines | 5' 4.3" (163.2 cm) | 4' 10.9" (149.6 cm) |
| 6 | 🇳🇵 Nepal | 5' 3.9" (162.3 cm) | 4' 11.4" (150.9 cm) |
| 7 | 🇾🇪 Yemen | 5' 3.0" (159.9 cm) | 5' 0.6" (154.0 cm) |
| 8 | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | 5' 4.5" (163.8 cm) | 4' 11.4" (150.8 cm) |
| 9 | 🇲🇭 Marshall Islands | 5' 4.1" (162.8 cm) | 4' 11.6" (151.3 cm) |
| 10 | 🇰🇭 Cambodia | 5' 4.3" (163.3 cm) | 5' 0.2" (152.9 cm) |
| 11 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 5' 4.4" (163.6 cm) | 5' 0.2" (152.8 cm) |
| 12 | 🇲🇼 Malawi | 5' 3.9" (162.2 cm) | 5' 0.8" (154.4 cm) |
| 13 | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | 5' 4.1" (162.7 cm) | 5' 2.5" (158.7 cm) |
| 14 | 🇮🇳 India | 5' 4.9" (164.9 cm) | 5' 0.1" (152.6 cm) |
| 15 | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | 5' 4.7" (164.4 cm) | 5' 0.5" (153.6 cm) |
| 16 | 🇵🇪 Peru | 5' 5.0" (165.2 cm) | 5' 0.2" (152.9 cm) |
| 17 | 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea | 5' 4.4" (163.6 cm) | 5' 1.0" (154.9 cm) |
| 18 | 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands | 5' 4.6" (164.1 cm) | 5' 0.8" (154.4 cm) |
| 19 | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | 5' 4.9" (164.8 cm) | 5' 0.6" (154.0 cm) |
| 20 | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | 5' 5.1" (165.3 cm) | 5' 0.5" (153.6 cm) |
Genetics plays a large role in determining an individual’s height, but nutrition and socioeconomic factors are also key influences.
Some studies have shown that when immigrant families move to higher income countries, better access to nutrition and healthcare can have substantial influence on the height of the next generation.
In fact, cross-referencing this dataset with countries with the highest food insecurity reveals several correlations, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa: Madagascar, Rwanda, and Burundi to name a few.
Finally, a pregnant mother’s exposure to hazardous substances—like tobacco smoke—can also affect height. Looking through the countries with the highest smoking rates also results in several correlations—though it’s worth noting any one measure can’t be analyzed alone.
For example, the Balkan countries feature high up in smoking rates, but are also some of the tallest people in the world by average height.
Wondering who’s on the other side of the spectrum? Check out the World’s Tallest Countries. Spoiler: there’s even more geographic clustering on that end.