Dutch men and Latvian women are the planet's tallest people but Iranian men and South Korean women have grown the fastest in the last century, according to the largest ever study of height around the world.
Americans, once among the world's tallest people, have dropped from having men and women at 3rd and 4th in the global height rankings from 100 years earlier, to placing 37th and 42nd respectively in 2014.
Australian men in 2014 were the only non-European nationality in the top 25 tallest in the world.
The research, led by scientists at Imperial College London and published in the journal eLife, also found some nations have stopped growing over the past 30 to 40 years, despite having spurts at the start of the century studied.
The United States was one of the first wealthy countries to plateau, followed by others including Britain and Japan. Meanwhile, people in Spain and Italy and many countries in Latin America and East Asia are still gaining height.
In contrast, some nations in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East have seen average heights decline over the past three to four decades.
Human height is strongly influenced by nutrition and environmental factors, although genetic factors can also play a role in individuals. Children who are better nourished and live in better environments tend to be taller.
Research suggests a mother's health and nutrition during pregnancy may also play a role in how tall her children grow.
Height also has lifelong consequences. Some studies have found that taller people tend to live longer. But being tall may also increase some health risks, with studies linking height to a higher risk of developing ovarian and prostate cancers.
Majid Ezzati, an Imperial professor of public health, said the findings underlined the need "to address children and adolescents' environment and nutrition on a global scale."
Researchers used data from sources including military conscription figures, and health and nutrition population surveys.
The scientists use these to generate height information for 18-year-olds in 1914 through to 18-year-olds in 2014.
They found that Iranian men have gained an average of 16.5 centimetres in height, and South Korean women 20.2cm.
The height of men and women in Britain increased by around 11cm over the past century, while the height of US men and women rose by 6cm and 5cm. Chinese men and women gained around 11cm and 10cm.
THE STUDY ALSO FOUND THAT:
* Dutch men are the tallest, with an average height of 182.5cm. Latvian women are the tallest, with an average height of 170cm
* Men from East Timor were the smallest in the world in 2014, with an average height of 160cm. Women from Guatemala were the smallest in 2014, with an average height of 149cm
* The height difference between men and women has on average remained largely unchanged over 100 years - the average height gap was about 11cm in 1914 and 12cm in 2014
