Average Penis Size...

As men we tend to be competitive by nature and thanks to this trait, we have a habit of comparing every aspect of our lives to that of our peers. None of us wants to be average or below average in any respect and this of course applies to how we measure up in the trouser department too. Sexologists continually state that for most women, the size of their partner's penis is of relatively low importance. But for most men, this really isn't the point – penis size is a fundamental measure of masculinity and confidence and naturally, we want to be more masculine and more confident than the average bloke. As a result, a definitive answer to what constitutes average penis size has for many years been the focus of a variety of research – the most notable of which you'll find outlined below.

In the late 19th century there were probably quite a few insecure men around, barely daring to take their pants down in front of the fairer sex. In 1879, a medical paper published by a certain Dr. W. Krause had reported that the average erect penis length measured a whopping 8 ¼ inches. Desperate times no doubt for the droves of men who probably took this statement to be an indisputable fact of science – and less than happy times for their wives who were probably wondering what they were missing out on.

Fortunately, throughout the 20th Century, numerous clinical studies have revisited the question of average penis size. And fortunately for most men, all these studies have come up with far more modest conclusions.

The Kinsey Study – 1948

Alfred C Kinsey, founder of the Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction (now better known as the Kinsey Institute) published an extremely controversial book (for its time) in 1948 entitled ' Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male'. Amongst its topics, Kinsey included the results of one of the most exhaustive clinical studies into average penis size.

In the study, Kinsey had collated the flaccid and erect penis sizes of 3500 college students, concluding with the following:

Average erect penis length measured 6.21 inches
Average erect penis girth measured 4.85 inches
Average flaccid penis length measured 3.89 inches
Average flaccid penis girth measured 3.75 inches

The Kinsey study also reported that over 65 percent of the 3500 test subjects were endowed with an erect penis length of between 5.5 and 6.5 inches and surmised that a male falling anywhere within this range could therefore, be considered to be of average penis size.

Kinsey's study though, did suffer from one monumental flaw – the test subjects measured themselves. Each participant simply held a postcard against his erect penis, marked off his length and then posted back the results. Later clinical studies into average penis size have consistently reported smaller average results; which suggests that Kinsey's subjects may have been less than impartial. Without the scrutiny of independently verified measurements, it seems that the 3500 participants had a tendency to exaggerate their penis size – even though the measurements were given anonymously.

Regardless of this slight bias though, Kinsey's study is still considered to be of considerable importance due to its sheer number of participants – no other scientific study has come close to recording so many results.

Durex Study...

With a vested interest in ensuring properly fitting products, several condom manufacturers in recent years have undertaken their own research into average penis size.

In the early 2000’s, Durex collected the measurements of 2936 men through their own Internet based survey. As with the Kinsey study, the Durex study involved a fairly large number of participants, but again was based on statistics gathered through self measurement. As was the problem with the Kinsey study therefore, the measurements taken were not independently verified – leaving a question mark over their accuracy. Nevertheless, according to the Durex study:

Average erect penis length measured 6.4 inches
Average erect penis girth measured 5.2 inches

Life Styles Condoms...

Due to the likelihood of distorted results arising from exaggerated or poorly taken self measurements, Life Style Condoms took a far more scientific approach to determining average penis size in their own clinical study conducted in 2001.

In this study, the erect penis measurements of 301 men were independently taken by a team of medical professionals – each man being measured not just once, but twice to ensure complete accuracy. Although Life Styles Condoms had hoped to gather results from a 1000 men, this remains to date the largest study into average penis size that has employed entirely accurate and independently taken measurements.

This independent measuring process threw up some surprising results:

Average erect penis length measured 5.877 inches
Average erect penis girth measured 4.972 inches
Over 60 percent of participants measured between 5.1 and 6.2 inches in erect length.

Whereas previous studies based on self measurement had suggested that average penis size fell within the 6.2 to 6.4 inch range, this new study reported that the average might in fact be significantly less – as much as ½ an inch in erect length less than previously assumed.

These findings were compounded by the results of another clinical study performed by a Brazilian urologist. Using accurate measurement data gathered from 150 test subjects, this study reported an average erect penis length of 5.7 inches and an average erect penis girth of 4.7 inches.

In Conclusion...

As you’ll see from the above studies, there’s no definitive answer to what constitutes average penis size. What is clear however, studies based on unverified self measurements tend to report higher averages than those based on clinically taken measurements – which is more than likely due to a tendency for men to exaggerate their size when given the opportunity.

Studies based on self measurement report that average erect penis length falls between the 6.2 – 6.4 inch mark, whilst those based on strict independent measurement collection report an average erect penis length of just less than six inches.

All the above data does however enable us to conclude what is the ‘average range’ of penis size i.e. the range that the majority of men fall in to. This range seems to be between 5.5 - 6.4 inches in erect penis length and 4.7 - 5.2 inches in erect penis girth. If you measure anywhere between these measurements then breathe a sigh of relief...you're entirely average and have nothing to worry about.