Average height in Jordan (men and women, 2019)
Men in Jordan averaged 174.8 cm (5 ft 9 in) at age 19 in 2019, and women averaged 159.5 cm (5 ft 3 in), according to NCD-RisC estimates (PMID 33160572).
Reviewed by Dr. Aman Khanna, M.S. Orthopaedics, an orthopaedic surgeon. Limb lengthening is bone surgery, not physiotherapy.
Check your height against the average in Jordan
For adults aged 18 and over whose growth plates have closed.
Rough height bands
| Position | Men (cm) | Women (cm) |
|---|---|---|
| About 2.5% shorter than | 160.8 | 147.5 |
| About 16% shorter than | 167.8 | 153.5 |
| Average | 174.8 | 159.5 |
| About 16% taller than | 181.8 | 165.5 |
| About 2.5% taller than | 188.8 | 171.5 |
Bands use mean and mean plus or minus 1 and 2 SD. They are approximate.
This is an approximation. It treats the age-19 mean as the adult mean and applies a normal curve with a spread (SD) of 7 cm for men and 6 cm for women. Those SDs are round, borrowed figures: a UK Biobank analysis of 119,669 adults reports 1 SD of adult height as 6.3 cm (PMID 26956984). The result is an estimate, not a measurement or a medical assessment.
Average height for men and women in Jordan
These figures are the NCD-RisC estimate of mean height at age 19 in 2019 (Lancet 2020, PMID 33160572), so they describe people born around 2000. They are not the average of every adult alive today.
| Group | Average (cm) | Feet and inches | 95% interval (cm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 174.8 | 5 ft 9 in | 173.1 – 176.5 |
| Women | 159.5 | 5 ft 3 in | 158.2 – 160.7 |
| Men: 15-country mean (unweighted) | 173.9 | 5 ft 8 in | — |
| Women: 15-country mean (unweighted) | 160.5 | 5 ft 3 in | — |
Interval = the range within which the true national average most likely lies, as estimated by the model.
How average height in Jordan changed over a century
This section uses a different NCD-RisC series from the age-19 figures above: the eLife 2016 estimates of mean height at age 18 for each birth cohort from 1896 to 1996 (PMID 27458798). Its numbers are not the same as the 2019 figures.
| Birth cohort (age 18) | Men (cm) | Women (cm) |
|---|---|---|
| 1896 | 158.9 | 150.2 |
| 1946 | 168.7 | 156.6 |
| 1996 | 171.0 | 158.8 |
Jordanian men gained 12.1 cm, the second-largest men's gain in this set after Oman, and women gained 8.6 cm. Men's average peaked at 172.2 cm for the 1979 cohort. The dataset reports national values only.
Can adult height be changed?
In childhood and adolescence, bones lengthen at the growth plates. After puberty these plates fuse, and the long bones stop lengthening (PMID 25883921). Stretching, hanging, posture work and supplements do not reopen them, and we know of no controlled evidence that they add height in adults.
The only method we know of that adds length to adult bone is surgery. Limb lengthening is bone surgery, not physiotherapy: the femur or tibia is cut and lengthened gradually over months. The risks come first: infection, nerve or joint problems, deformity or delayed healing of the new bone, and further operations. A systematic review of cosmetic stature lengthening (11 studies, 795 patients, mixed techniques) reported a mean of 0.78 problems, 0.94 obstacles and 0.15 complications per patient, with a mean gain of 6.7 cm (PMID 32670567). In Paley's classification, problems resolve without an operation, obstacles need a further operation but resolve before treatment ends, and complications remain unresolved at the end of treatment. Those are literature figures, not our own series.
For planning, we state gain as up to about 6 cm per segment, decided from X-rays. Recovery for cosmetic cases is 12 to 18 months. Whether surgery is suitable at all is decided at consultation; not everyone who asks is suitable.
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Questions about average height in Jordan
What is the average height of men in Jordan?
NCD-RisC estimates that men in Jordan averaged 174.8 cm (5 ft 9 in) at age 19 in 2019, with a 95 percent interval of 173.1 to 176.5 cm (PMID 33160572).
What is the average height of women in Jordan?
NCD-RisC estimates that women in Jordan averaged 159.5 cm (5 ft 3 in) at age 19 in 2019, with a 95 percent interval of 158.2 to 160.7 cm (PMID 33160572).
Is this the average height of all adults?
No. The figures describe 19-year-olds in 2019, born around 2000. Older adults come from earlier birth cohorts, whose averages differ; the NCD-RisC cohort series (PMID 27458798) shows they are usually lower, but not in every country. National surveys also use different methods and age groups.
Can an adult increase their height?
Not without surgery. After the growth plates fuse, the long bones stop lengthening (PMID 25883921). Surgery is the only method we know of that adds length to adult bone. It carries real risks (PMID 32670567) and is decided case by case, as described above.
Average height in other countries
References
- NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants. Lancet 2020;396:1511-1524. (PMID 33160572). Headline figures: mean height at age 19 in 2019. Data file: NCD_RisC_Lancet_2020_height_child_adolescent_country.zip, accessed 8 October 2026.
- NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). A century of trends in adult human height. eLife 2016;5:e13410. (PMID 27458798). Used only for the 1896 to 1996 birth-cohort trend (mean height at age 18). Data file: NCD_RisC_eLife_2016_height_age18_countries.csv, accessed 8 October 2026.
- Shim KS. Pubertal growth and epiphyseal fusion. Ann Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 2015;20(1):8-12. (PMID 25883921).
- Marwan Y, Cohen D, Alotaibi M, Addar A, Bernstein M, Hamdy R. Cosmetic stature lengthening: systematic review of outcomes and complications. Bone Joint Res 2020;9(7):341-350. (PMID 32670567).
- Tyrrell J, Jones SE, Beaumont R, et al. Height, body mass index, and socioeconomic status: mendelian randomisation study in UK Biobank. BMJ 2016;352:i582. (PMID 26956984).
Data licence: NCD-RisC data are published under CC BY 4.0 (ncdrisc.org).
Questions about adult height?
Send your height and age. Candidacy is decided at consultation, from X-rays and examination.
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