What do people in China look like?

The growing globalization requires an awareness of different body measurements, proportions as well as body shapes within the various markets. Using our world's largest database of human body scans as an example, we have compared the countries China, Germany and North America to show global differences.

Data for Germany and North America were obtained from representative size surveys with 3D body scanners in 2006-2008 and 2016-2019. Data from China were obtained from the GB 10000-88 study, for which 11,150 women and 11,164 men were scanned from 1985 to 1988. The age groups covered were 18 to 55 years for women and 16 to 60 years for men. The data were accelerated to 2008.

Some results of this comparison:

• The chest circumference of Chinese women and men is several times smaller than that of German and American women and men.
• The Chinese women and men have the smallest waist circumference, while the SizeNA men and women have the largest.
• The average hip circumferences of the women from SizeNA, as well as SizeGERMANY, are significantly larger than that of the women from China. The men from SizeNA are also significantly larger in hip circumference than the Chinese men.
• The BMI differs strongly between all nations. The Chinese women have the smallest BMI at 22.2 and the American women have the highest BMI at 29.1.
• Chinese women are about 21 kilograms lighter than SizeNA women.
• BMI differs among all nations. The Chinese have the smallest BMI at 21.9 and the Americans have the highest BMI at 28.9. This can also be seen by comparing the weight. The Chinese men are about 25 kg lighter than the SizeNA men.

A comparison of men in China, Germany and the USA shows considerable differences in body measurements and proportions. If you want to sell products, e.g. clothing, to China, you have to make sure that they actually fit the local population. Our next article will show you how to do this.