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Height Lens

Public Figures · 44th U.S. President

How tall is Barack Obama?

6′ 1″185 cm · 1.85 m

Commonly reported · press and agency figures

Barack Obama is 8.1 cm (3″) taller than the average American man. See what 6'1" looks like →

U.S. percentile
90th
among men
World percentile
98th
among men
Compare With Your HeightAll Celebrities
Barack Obama compared with average U.S. adultsBarack Obama6′ 1″185 cmAverage U.S. man5′ 9.5″176.9 cmAverage U.S. woman5′ 4.5″163.3 cm
Barack Obama next to the average U.S. man (5′ 9.5″) and woman (5′ 4.5″), drawn to scale.

Barack Obama’s height around the world

The same height reads differently depending on where you stand. Here is where 185 cm places Barack Obama against adults in 55 countries, for both sexes.

Estimated percentile for Barack Obama among adults in each country, for men and women
Countryvs. menMen’s percentilevs. womenWomen’s percentile
Netherlands+1.2 cm57th+14.6 cm99th
Montenegro+1.7 cm59th+15 cm99th
Bosnia & Herzegovina+2.5 cm64th+17.5 cm>99th
Denmark+3.1 cm67th+15.5 cm99th
Ukraine+4 cm71st+18.4 cm>99th
Croatia+4.2 cm72nd+18.2 cm>99th
Serbia+4.3 cm73rd+16.7 cm99th
Poland+4.3 cm73rd+19.2 cm>99th
Finland+4.4 cm73rd+18.5 cm>99th
Norway+4.5 cm74th+18.6 cm>99th
Sweden+4.5 cm74th+18.3 cm>99th
Germany+4.7 cm75th+18.8 cm>99th
Greece+5.7 cm79th+19.2 cm>99th
Ireland+6 cm80th+20.5 cm>99th
Australia+6.2 cm81st+20.3 cm>99th
Canada+6.3 cm81st+20.3 cm>99th
France+6.4 cm82nd+20.5 cm>99th
United Kingdom+6.8 cm83rd+21.1 cm>99th
New Zealand+7.3 cm85th+20.3 cm>99th
Jamaica+8 cm87th+20.7 cm>99th
United States+8.1 cm87th+21.7 cm>99th
Russia+8.4 cm88th+20.5 cm>99th
Turkey+8.6 cm89th+23.2 cm>99th
Spain+8.9 cm89th+23 cm>99th
Brazil+9.3 cm90th+22.6 cm>99th
China+9.3 cm90th+21.5 cm>99th
Iran+9.4 cm91st+23.8 cm>99th
South Korea+9.5 cm91st+21.8 cm>99th
Argentina+10.2 cm92nd+23.8 cm>99th
Egypt+10.4 cm93rd+24.1 cm>99th
Italy+10.6 cm93rd+23.2 cm>99th
Portugal+10.6 cm93rd+23.8 cm>99th
Japan+12.9 cm97th+26.5 cm>99th
Colombia+13.1 cm97th+27 cm>99th
Thailand+13.4 cm97th+25.6 cm>99th
Nigeria+13.4 cm97th+26.9 cm>99th
Saudi Arabia+14.3 cm98th+26.2 cm>99th
Kenya+14.5 cm98th+25.6 cm>99th
Mexico+14.7 cm98th+27.1 cm>99th
South Africa+15.4 cm98th+26.4 cm>99th
Malaysia+15.8 cm99th+27.9 cm>99th
Vietnam+16.1 cm99th+26.6 cm>99th
Ethiopia+16.2 cm99th+27.8 cm>99th
DR Congo+16.4 cm99th+28.7 cm>99th
Pakistan+17.7 cm99th+30.2 cm>99th
Tanzania+18 cm99th+28.1 cm>99th
Peru+18.2 cm99th+30.6 cm>99th
Myanmar+18.3 cm>99th+30.3 cm>99th
India+18.5 cm>99th+29.8 cm>99th
Indonesia+18.7 cm>99th+30.6 cm>99th
Philippines+19.8 cm>99th+30.9 cm>99th
Bangladesh+19.9 cm>99th+32.6 cm>99th
Nepal+20.6 cm>99th+32.6 cm>99th
Guatemala+20.6 cm>99th+34.1 cm>99th
Timor-Leste+24.9 cm>99th+32.3 cm>99th

Estimated from NCD-RisC national averages for 19-year-olds and an assumed normal distribution. Greyed values sit beyond the 2nd or 98th percentile, where the estimate stops discriminating.How we calculate this →

In context

Among public figures

2 of 5

Barack Obama is the 2nd tallest of the 5 public figures in our database, between Elon Musk (188 cm) and Kendall Jenner (179 cm).

Everyday reference

1.85 m

Barack Obama is 18 cm shorter than a standard door frame.

Celebrities with a similar height

Commonly reported — A commonly reported figure from press and agency sources, rounded to the nearest centimetre. Published heights for the same person frequently differ.Percentiles are estimates based on NCD-RisC national averages.How we source and calculate this →