Like our appearances differ around the globe, so do people’s feet based on where they come from. Here is a broad review of foot shapes across nations.
Before I begin this walkthrough, please be aware that it is only generalized, people’s feet vary greatly even among people from the same country/region. My knowledge may also vary greatly between fields, if I am incorrect in any regard, please correct me immediately. Satra, an independent research and test institute for the shoe industry, conducted a global foot shape survey. Unfortunately, as this was only available to member companies at €6,000 each and I didn’t have access to learn from this resource. But there is plenty of additional research, data, and general knowledge. While this blog specializes in men’s shoes (where my expertise resides), the same rules should generally apply when considering women’s feet (unless otherwise specified).
Why write such a post? For one thing, this will hopefully provide interesting and educational material on this subject, on the other hand, this information could prove beneficial as an online customer learning how shoes fit differently depending on where it was manufactured, it also makes good business sense when selling shoes internationally and understanding different foot shapes among your customer base.
Central and Southern Europe
Here we find the foundation of what many refer to as being “true to size”, an inexact term which refers both to shape and size relationship. Central and southern European feet serve as an indicator for what constitutes true to size because countries like England, Italy and Spain have long been key in terms of the shoe industry globally, so these feet serve as something of a “standard”. These feet tend to have medium width with no high or low instep. European (and even North American) feet have historically had relatively bony characteristics but with increased average weight more people nowadays have “fleshier” feet than ever before.
Northern Europe
Residents in Northern Europe tend to have slightly wider feet at the ball (the widest part), while rear part and heel width tends to be “standard.” Coupled with their slightly higher instep and thus arches (normally all feet have approximately equal volume, when instep/wrist rises more, underside follows), finding shoes tailored specifically for this foot type may prove challenging as many shoes manufactured for previous groups don’t always provide a satisfactory fit.
Russia and Eastern Europe
Russian feet share many characteristics with northern European feet, but are further extended, many individuals possess extremely high insteps with wide feet over the ball area making finding shoes that sit comfortably while looking good a challenge for many individuals here.
Asia
Asian feet tend to be considerably smaller than their Western counterparts, typically about two cm shorter on average. Furthermore, their instep is lower, the arches wider and less bony while heels appear cupped when seen from profile these characteristics distinguish Asian manufacturers’ shoes from European manufacturers’ shoes in Japan and China respectively. If your foot size exceeds UK9/ EU43 it could be difficult for you to find shoes available there.
North America
An unusual feature of American feet compared to European ones is that Americans tend to have narrower ones, similar in shape but not as wide (this only applies to men, women have similar feet on each continent). Because of this difference, many European brands using standard E width measurements on European markets use D width for US markets though as weights rise this might change with time.
South America
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any information that clarified how South American’s feet compare and relate to those elsewhere in their bodies. If any reader has additional insight, feel free to post in the comments so I can update this post with this knowledge.
Africa
African foot types vary dramatically, making generalizations about them impossible. But one generalization can be made. For instance, in central parts of Africa a large portion of people tend to have slightly different undersides of their feet where the outside middle part lies more towards the ground and contributes to rolling step believed to be one reason Africans often have light, fluid running styles. It’s also relatively common to find someone with triangular shaped feet from heel to toes.
Australia
As can be seen in the graph above, Australians typically have shorter and wider feet than Europeans, though similar in shape overall to a Central European foot shape. You don’t have to think too deeply about last shapes here rather consider more so the smaller size scale available here.
