Be honest: you’ve wondered once in a while if the other men have bigger organs than you — and if you are “less” of a man.
Now the result of an international study of 15,000 penises has provided a little bit of a scientific answer: the average length of the penis is 13.12 centimetres (5.16 inches) in length when erect and 11.66cm (4.6 inches) around.
When “soft”, it is 9.16cm (3.6 inches) in length, with a girth of 9.31cm (3.7 inches).
The British researchers are hopeful that the results will help reassure the large majority of men that the size of their penis is in the normal range.
The researchers used the data provided by participants who had their organs measured by a professional.
The developed a graph to guide doctors in counselling men who suffer from “small penis anxiety”.
In the worst cases, men may be diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder – a debilitating psychological condition that can lead to obsessive and anti-social behaviour, depression and even suicide.
In reality, only 2.28% of the male population have an abnormally small penis, said the study – and the same percentage an unusually large one.
The study participants were men aged 17 to 91 who had their penises measured in 20 previously published studies conducted in Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States.
The team found no evidence for penis size differences linked to race, though most of the study participants were of European and Middle Eastern descent and a full comparison could thus not be made.
Nor did the researchers find any convincing correlation between a man’s foot size and the length of his manhood.
They acknowledged their results may have been somewhat skewed by the possibility that men who volunteer to be examined may be more confident in their penis size than the general population.
The team said their work, published in the BJU International journal of urology, was the first to combine all existing data on penis length and girth into a definitive graph.
The information may be useful for reassuring men worried about their size. But it may also have the unintended effect of denting the egos of those who thought they were abnormally well-endowed.
Doctors may also use the graph to help men find well-fitting condoms, the team said.
