Is Your Penis Smaller Than Average?

The age-old question that has plagued men the world over can now be put to bed. British researchers recently compiled data from 17 studies in which 15,521 men had their penises measured. An average length and girth (both erect and flaccid) was calculated, and researchers found that most men fall into the average size range. In fact, only 2.28 percent of the male population have an abnormally small penis, or an abnormally large one. If you're male, your chances of having a penis in the international standard range is extremely high.

The average penis length is is 5.2 inches when erect and 3.6 inches when flaccid. In girth, the average circumference of an erect penis is is 4.6 inches and 3.7 inches when flaccid. The researchers found only a small correlation between penis length and a man’s height, while they say race plays little factor.

This is the first time any formal, systematic data on international penis size has ever been compiled. What to do with data like this? Researches believe it can be used to reassure men who struggle with Body Dysmorphia Disorder (BDD), an anxiety disorder relating to body image. To do this, researches plotted a graph of their findings. 

The lead author of the study, Dr David Veale from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at London's King's College and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, told Mail Online that "men compare themselves in locker rooms and with pornography on the internet and believe they are inferior. Some men have been teased by sexual partners about their length. There are lots of men who might be worried, and we think reassuring men they are in the normal range will help.”

Neale believes the graphs will be the most effective way to do this. “We will also use the graphs to examine the discrepancy between what a man believes to be their position on the graph and their actual position, or what they think they should be,” he said.

Dr. Martin Baggaley, medical director at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, told Mail Online, “BDD causes a person to have a distorted view of how they look and they can spend an obsessive amount of time worrying about their appearance. This can include worries over their weight, specific parts of their body and, for men, the size of their penis.”

BDD is considered an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. A person with body dysmorphia may constantly compare their looks to other people's or spend a lot of time in front of a mirror, or avoid mirrors altogether, and obsess over a perceived defect. In this way, BDD can be a debilitating illness, and one that the researhers hope their global penis research will have great impact.

The research was published in the British Journal of Urology.