Map reveals average penis sizes around the globe… and America is not a world leader
In a global battle of the bulge, the US does not crack the top 10 or even the top 60 when it comes to penis size, according to new rankings.
The average penis length when erect in the US is around five-and-a-half inches, slightly higher than the global average, according to Data Pandas, an online library of datasets pertaining to health, crime, education, demographics, and the economy.
Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo earned the top spots for penile length, with an average of 7.07 in and 7.05 in, respectively. Ecuador was third with an average of 6.93 in.
Thailand, North Korea, and Cambodia took the bottom three spots at 3.72 in, 3.78 in, and 3.88 in, respectively.
The measurements were derived from self-reporting, opening the possibility that the men surveyed exaggerated the sizes of their members.
The global rankings ranked the US at number 68, with an average length at erection of 5.57 in. Many of America’s peers ranked higher: Australia with an average of 6.18 in, France with 5.71 in, and the UK with 5.63 in.
Canada ranked lower than the US, though, with an average of 5.48 in.
The countries with the largest reported penis sizes are scattered across the continents, including South America, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.
After Ecuador was the Republic of the Congo (the smaller country neighboring the DRC) and Ghana have average lengths of approximately 6.83 inches and 6.81 inches, respectively.
Nigeria rounded out the top five (6.69 in) followed by Venezuela (6.66 in), Lebanon (6.62 in), Colombia (6.59 in), and Cameroon (6.55 in).
The countries reporting the smallest sizes tend to be located in Southeast or East Asia, home to a wide range of cultural and ethnic groups.
On the other end of the spectrum, Thailand ranked first with an average erect penis length of approximately 3.71 inches, followed by North Korea at 3.78 inches.
Data Pandas based its ranking on a 2014 report in the journal BJU International Sexual Medicine.
Researchers performed a sweeping review of existing studies from around the world that measured penis size by health professionals in samples of 50 people or more.
By relying on existing research, the authors of the report could glean information from studies that investigated penis size metrics in countries they would not otherwise have access to, like North Korea.
Cambodia’s average length is about 3.88 inches, Nepal’s is around 3.93 inches, Myanmar’s is 3.97 inches, and Laos’s is 4.00 inches.
Vietnam’s average is approximately 4 inches as well, while Sri Lanka’s average is around 4.02 inches. South Korea averages about 4.26 inches, and the Philippines ranks at approximately 4.28 inches.
The quip ‘size matters’ reflects men’s attitudes rather than women’s.
In addition to length, men tend to care about girth, or circumference of the penis, and volume, which refers to the overall three-dimensional size.
In Data Panda’s breakdown, the top five spots were occupied by European countries, with the exception of Ecuador in third place.
France leads with an average girth of 5.37 in around, followed closely by the Netherlands at 5.33 in.
Ecuador takes third place with an average girth of 5.29 in. Belgium and Denmark share similar measurements, at 5.22 in each, securing the fourth and fifth positions.
Australia, which was ranked 20th for length, had the world’s sixth-highest average girth followed by Norway at 5.18 inches and Sudan at 5.15 in.
A 2009 study revealed that seventy-nine percent of men wished their penises were bigger, and nearly forty-eight percent of those who wanted a larger size admitted to lying about their actual size
Romania ranked lowest when it came to girth at an average of 4.04 in. Bhutan was a close second from the bottom at 4.06 in, followed by Bangladesh at 4.13 in and Mongolia at 4.18 in.
While the lowest rankings for length were dominated by Asian countries, the lower rankings for girth span Asian countries as well as some countries in Eastern Europe.
Some of the countries near the top of the ranking for length when erect ranked just as well for overall volume, which takes into consideration length and girth together.
Ecuador takes the lead with an average volume of 15.43 in³ (cubic inches), followed by Sudan at 14.91 in³ and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 14.83 in³.
Venezuela ranks fourth with an average of 13.96 in³, while the Netherlands is close behind at 13.91 in³. Ghana secures the sixth spot with 13.75 in³, and Colombia rounds out the list at 13.71 in³.
There are various metrics used to measure penis size, but length is often considered the most important, likely because length is the most visible and immediately noticeable measurement.
A 2002 study involving 375 women reported that only 21 percent of them considered penis length to be important, and only one percent said it was very important.
A much larger share of men are hung up on size. A 2009 report found that 79 percent of men wished their penises were larger. And about 48 percent of men who wanted a larger penis lied about their size.
Average penis length may have risen over the past few decades. American and Italian researchers assessed data from 75 different studies on penis size published between 1942 and 2021, involving over 55,000 men.
They reported in February 2023 that erect penis length increased significantly over time – 24 percent over 29 years.
Changes over time could be linked to the trend of boys hitting puberty at increasingly younger ages. Puberty triggers a surge in hormones, especially testosterone, which directly impacts the growth of various body parts, including the genitals.
Earlier puberty means that the body is exposed to these hormones longer, potentially leading to a longer penis size in adulthood.
