The chart compares trajectories of the average height of women born in four European countries namely The Netherlands, Latvia, Sweden, and France over a 20-year period.
Throughout this time, all the countries in Europe witnessed a rise, although the scale and pattern of growth differed markedly. Additionally, France was the lowest, despite experiencing a significant increase.
Focusing on the leading countries, The Netherlands and Latvia saw a dramatic upward trend of average height. The Netherlands, with the initial height standing at 166cm in 1946, then, the figure increased sharply to 169cm in around 1970. After which it remained the same for 12 years, and ended up with about 168.8 in 1996. The latter’s trend rose sharply, starting at 164cm to 170cm at the end.
Next on the list were Sweden and France that followed similar uptrends. The former average category’s height started out at 165cm, saw considerable increase about 166.8cm and, declined to around 164.8cm in 1996. As for the figure for France, with the starting point at 161cm, it grew consistently to roughly 165cm during the all 2 decades.