Just as the way people look varies around the world, people’s feet also are different depending on where you come from. Here’s a large review of feet shapes around the world.
First a disclaimer, this is clearly a generalising walkthrough, there are large variations of people’s feet even if one originates from the same country/region. It also varies a lot about how much knowledge I have / have managed to allocate myself between different areas, so if you know that I am wrong about something, please correct me. Satra, the independent research and test institute for the shoe industry, has made a giant survey of foot shapes around the world, but since it’s only available for member companies and costs €6,000 (it is aimed for international shoe companies), this is nothing I have had the opportunity to do learn from. But there are other research, data and general information. Since this blog is mainly about men’s shoes and this is where I have the best knowledge, this also applies when it comes to feet, but as a rule, you can say that the same rules go through for women’s feet (unless stated otherwise).
A fine, healthy foo. 3D model… Picture: Turbosquid
What is the point with such a post? On the one hand, it can hopefully be interesting to learn more about this topic, and then it can also be useful for you as a customer to know how shoes fit is in feneral if you shop made in different parts of the world, and if you sell shoes to international customers it’s of course practical to know about how feet shape varies.
Central and Southern Europe
Here we find the foot shape that forms the basis of what often goes under the really very vague term “true to size”, which can both refer to shape and size relation. Central and southern European feet. The reason is that countries like England, Italy and Spain have been important to the shoe industry in Europe and the world, hence these feet are the basis of some sort of “standard”. They are also generally medium in their shape, right in the middle of width, and instep is neither high nor low. European (and even North American) feet have historically been relatively bony, but with an increased average weight more people nowadays have a “fleshier” foot.
Northern Europe
Up in the north of Europe people have a slightly wider feet at the ball (the widest part of the foot), while the rear part and the heel are more “standard” in width. This, in combination with a slightly higher instep, and thus higher arch (normally the foot’s volume is roughly the same, so if the instep/wrist is high the underside follow, so to speak, and vice versa, if instep is low the arch is lower) can make it a bit harder to get the fit right, since we generally buy shoes that are made for the previous group’s feet.
In this post I don’t go into the different shapes of the toes, but here above is a good overview, though also this very generalizing. Picture: Ancestral Findings
Russia and Eastern Europe
Here, especially for Russian feet, the characteristic is like the northern European foot, but further pushed, so to speak. Here, many have really high insteps and wide feet over the ball. Often has a challenge when it comes to finding shoes that sit comfortably and looks good on the feet.
Asia
Asian feet are to begin with much smaller than western feet, on average about 2 cm shorter. Moreover, the instep is lower, they are wider and less bony, plus the heels are more cupped if you see them in profile, which can make a difference between Asian manufacturers’ shoes and European. Are you visiting for example in Japan or China and if you have feet about the size of UK9 / EU43 or above, it’s almost no chance to find shoes in the stores there.
North America
Here is a clear and interesting difference to European feet, and it’s the fact that the Americans generally have narrower feet. Quite similar in shape, but not as wide (for unclear reasons, this only applies to men, women’s feet are very similar on the two continents). This is why it’s common for European brands, for example, who use the term E for standard width in Europe, to have the narrower D-width as the standard for the shoes sold on the US market. That said, with the increased average weight of people especially in the US, it’s something that seem to be changing a bit.
This graph shows the feet length in cm on the X axis, and the Y axis shows the kernel density, the volume. Image: ResearchGate
South America
Here I mist admit that I didn’t find any information that explains how South American’s feet are in shape and relate to the rest. Unfortunately. If any reader has good info, you are welcome to write in the comments so I can update the post.
Africa
A continent that has a great variety of foot types, so here one cannot really be as generalising as above. What one can say is that, for example, a large part of the population in the central parts of Africa has a slightly different underside of the feet where the outside of the middle part lies more towards the ground and contributes to the rolling step, which is believed to be one of the reasons for Africans often have light, flowing running. It’s also relatively common with a slightly triangular-shaped feet so to speak, with a clear triangular shape from the heel to the toes.
Australia
As can be seen in the graph above, Australians have both slightly shorter and wider feet than Europeans. The shape is relatively similar in general to the Central European foot, so you don’t have to think significantly about the last shape here, but it’s more that you have a step down on the size scale so to speak.
Amazing how varied the content is here on Shoegazing! You’ll never know what to expect next, but almost always interesting. Prefer this over lots of posting where 80% is nonsense anyway. Keep it up!
Bran: Thank you very much for your kind words!
Very interesting! Thank you. I just learned that I am an American with a Norwegian foot, which explains my lifelong challenge as an outdoor athlete in finding perfectly fitting shoes! The stakes have gone up now that I wear orthotic insoles with every flat heeled pair of shoes I own. I’ve been searching for a make/model/year shoe comparison tool for shoes and boots along these lines: IF THIS FITS YOU LIKE A GLOVE, THEN TRY THIS! Do you know of anything like this?
Speaking of gloves, I have the same problem there. I’m a woman who wears men’s gloves, size large, to accommodate long fingers and palms. But the volumes that account for too much width or circumference make many gloves too bully. dress gloves, ice climbing gloves, motorcycling and mountain biking gloves: these really do need to fit like a glove! A glove finder tool similar to the shoe finder above would be so helpful.
Interesting article. While generalizing, (which isn’t a sin-if some things weren’t mass produced via generalizing no commerce would exist or we’d be in the middle ages.) I have a proclivity for giving women foot massages, and your study coincides with my informal observations. I sought your article primarily for a story I’m writing, as my Russian female hairdresser wears sandals a lot, and has the Russian stereotype feet per your description. She is a tall drink of water.
Latin Americans usually have wide feet overall and their big toes are usually the longest.
Africans mostly have flat arches and their toenails are really small often
Asia is quite diverse as well, since Tibetans, and the younger generation( improvements in nutrition) of Mongolians, Koreans and Northern Chinese are comparable in height to Westerners it would be interesting to have data in foot size as I’ve seen the taller younger men from these demographics have plenty of big feet from what I’ve seen.
Having grown up in the Southeastern US, have always heard from family as well as some people in the shoe business, that Southern women have the narrowest feet of all the demographic groups. I have always found that interesting.
CJ Berry: I see, didn’t go that deep into the research but may very well be correct.
As far as I have observed in the eastern part of South America, Brazil in specular, the girls feet combine both the beauty of uropean and african trends which we call the mulatto type. Long second toes than the first big toe is common. Narrow soles and high arches are are more promanent than what we see in in the north American negroes (which are actually the mixed races). If you want to prove, come to Rio de Janeiro favela (Slum) to witness yourself.
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This is a very wonderful article.
Can I ask a question?
As someone who loves these shoe patterns, I wanted to ask how I can buy these shoes at a lower price.
Thank you.
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