AVERAGE HEIGHT OF KOREANS

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How tall are adult Koreans? On average, men are 172.5 centimeters tall and women are 159.6 centimeters tall. It was also found that about half of adult men fall into the category of obesity. Here are details of Koreans’ body measurements announced by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards.

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A gym in Seoul... Business is recovering after suffering from a slump during the pandemic.

[Soundbite] Mo Pil-won(Gym Member) : "The gym operated irregularly and I could not routinely visit it. It was very inconvenient. Now I can work out without restraint."

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards announced the results of its study on the body dimensions of some 6,800 adults. The study shows Koreans are taller than ever and the male obesity rate has gone up. The average height stands at 172.5 centimeters for men. 159.6 centimeters for women. Compared to the study conducted some four decades ago, Korean men are 6.4 centimeters taller and women are 5.3 centimeters taller. The average body mass index among men is 24.9, indicating they are overweight. Women have a BMI of 22.6 on average, which is considered to be standard. Some 47 percent of men and 23 percent of women fall into the category of obesity. In the case of females, the obesity rate dropped among those aged 35 or older, compared to the previous survey. Koreans’ legs are slightly longer than they used to be 17 years ago. The changes show their body types have become more Westernized. But the cephalic index, or the ratio of width to length in the head that's used to categorize head shapes, remained nearly unchanged at the typical proportion of Asians over the past four decades. The latest study was conducted on Koreans aged 20 and 69 from May 2020 until the end of last year. The state-authorized data is compiled every five years.

[Soundbite] Choi Kyung-mi(Ex-professor, Dong Seoul Univ.(Research team member)) : "The body measurement is very helpful in developing products or creating a living environment tailored for Koreans."

In 2017, subway train seats were enlarged for the first time in 40 years based on the body measurement study. The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards will use these study results in various fields, including the medical devices industry as well as human factors and ergonomics.