Shoe size conversion chart: US to EU, UK and Japan for men and women, plus foot length in inches and cm

The short version of this shoe size conversion chart: a US men’s 7½, a US women’s 9 and a European 40 all fit the same foot, 25.4 cm (10 inches) long. European sizes are unisex and US sizes are not, which is why men’s and women’s sizes sit 1½ apart on the American scale. In the UK the same foot is a men’s 7, and Japan simply prints the foot length rounded to the half centimeter: 25.5. So convert from your foot length in cm or inches rather than from another size: measure your foot with the method below, then read your row in the table.

Ordering sneakers from an Italian brand, boots from a British shop or hiking shoes from a Japanese site means landing on a number that looks nothing like yours. Shoe sizes are not universal: Europe counts in Paris points, the UK and the US count in thirds of an inch, each from its own zero, and men and women do not even share the same American scale. The one thing every system has in common is the foot, and that is where any shoe size conversion chart should start.

Men’s shoe size conversion chart

This shoe size conversion chart is the one behind the app’s Male shoe screen. Each row describes the same shoe in every system, and the last two columns give the foot length that goes with it. The bold row, US 7½, is the one in the app screenshot further down.

US & Canada	UK	EU	Japan	Mexico	Brazil	Australia	Foot (cm)	Foot (in)
7	6½	39	25	5½	37	6½	25.1	9.9
7½	7	40	25.5	6	38	7	25.4	10
8	7½	41	25.5	6½	39	7½	25.7	10.1
8½	8	42	26	7	40	8	26	10.2
9	8½	43	26.5	7½	41	8½	26.7	10.5
10½	10	44	27.5	9	42	10	27.3	10.7
11½	11	45	28	10	43	11	27.9	11
12½	12	46	28.5	11	44	12	28.6	11.3
14	13½	48	29	12½	46	13½	29.2	11.5

To read a shoe size conversion chart, start from the most reliable column you have. If you measured your foot, that is the foot length in cm (or in inches): take the row equal to or just above your measurement. If all you know is your US size, just read its row. The Japan and inches columns are calculated from the foot length: the Japanese size is that length rounded to the half centimeter, and an inch is 2.54 cm.

Women’s shoe size chart, from US 4 to US 10½

The women’s table comes from the app’s Female shoe screen. It starts lower, at US 4 (EU 34), and stops at US 10½ (EU 43).

US & Canada	UK	EU	Japan	Mexico	Brazil	Australia	Foot (cm)	Foot (in)
4	1½	34	22	1	32	4	21.8	8.6
4½	2	34½	22	1½	32½	4½	22.1	8.7
5	2½	35	23	2	33	5	22.8	9
5½	3	35½	23	2½	33½	5½	23.1	9.1
6	3½	36	23.5	3	34	6	23.5	9.3
6½	4	37	24	3½	35	6½	23.8	9.4
7	4½	37½	24	4	35½	7	24.1	9.5
7½	5	38	24.5	4½	36	7½	24.5	9.6
8	5½	38½	25	5	36½	8	24.8	9.8
8½	6	39	25	5½	37	8½	25.1	9.9
9	6½	40	25.5	6	38	9	25.4	10
9½	7	41	25.5	6½	39	9½	25.7	10.1
10	7½	42	26	7	40	10	26	10.2
10½	8	43	26.5	7½	41	10½	26.7	10.5

Compare the two tables at the same foot length. At 25.4 cm, Europe gives men and women a 40, but the US gives one a 7½ and the other a 9. Side by side, the two tables double as a men’s to women’s shoe size chart, and that gap is the first trap when you convert US sizes to European sizes, especially on a unisex sneaker. Feel free to reuse this shoe size conversion chart or the PDF on your own site; a link back to this page is all we ask.

Men’s to women’s shoe size: add 1½ in US sizing

Going from men’s to women’s shoe size is an American problem. European sizes are the same for everyone; US sizes are not. In our tables, for the same European size, the women’s US size is the men’s plus 1½: an EU 43 is a men’s 9 and a women’s 10½. That is the most widespread rule between the two American scales, and the one to use when a unisex shoe is only listed in men’s sizes.

UK sizes track US sizes closely. On paper, a US men’s size is the UK size plus one; in the app’s chart the gap is only half a size (a UK 8½ is a US 9), and manufacturers land anywhere between the two. For women it reaches 2½. So when you shop UK or European brands, do not do the math in your head: read the row, and if the brand publishes its own chart, that one wins.

How to measure your foot

All you need is a sheet of paper, a pencil and a ruler, and it takes two minutes. The same three steps are on the printable shoe size chart.

1. Put a sheet of paper against a wall, on a hard floor, and stand on it with your heel against the wall, wearing the socks you will wear with the shoes.
2. Mark the tip of your longest toe, holding the pencil straight up. It is not always the big toe, and the mark is more accurate if someone else draws it for you.
3. Measure with a ruler from the edge of the sheet to the mark, to the nearest millimeter or sixteenth of an inch. Do both feet and keep the longer one.

Whatever the shoe, three rules hold:

• Measure at the end of the day. Feet swell a little as the hours go by, and it is your evening foot that has to fit in the shoe.
• Do not add room to your measurement. A shoe is already built longer than your foot, by about ½ to ⅔ inch (1.3 to 1.7 cm), and the tables account for it.
• Between two rows, take the larger. A shoe that runs a little long can be fixed with an insole; a shoe that is too short cannot.

What each country actually counts

Behind every shoe size there is a length, but not always the same length, or in the same unit. That is why a shoe size conversion chart built on the foot beats any rule of thumb between two countries.

• Europe counts in Paris points. One point is 2/3 of a centimeter, or 6.67 mm, and European sizes measure the last the shoe is built on, about two points longer than the foot (Shoe size, Wikipedia).
• The UK and the US count in thirds of an inch, the old “barleycorn” of 8.47 mm, but they do not start from the same zero. Hence a gap of half a size to a full size between UK and US sizes.
• Mondopoint is the international standard ISO 9407: the length and width of the foot in millimeters. You will find it on ski boots, skates and military footwear.
• Japan shows the foot length in centimeters, in 5 mm steps. That is the Japanese size in our tables, hence 25.5 for a 25.4 cm foot.
• Mexico has its own numbering: in our tables, 1½ below the US size for men and 3 below for women. In Mexican stores, people also talk in centimeters a lot.
• Australia uses UK sizes for men and US sizes for women, and Brazil runs exactly two sizes below Europe.

In practice, no brand applies these rules to the letter. Each manufacturer uses its own lasts and rounds its own way, so two size charts can differ by half a size, sometimes a full size at the top of the range. Our shoe size conversion chart is the app’s, and your foot length in inches or cm remains the best referee: keep that number in mind before every order.

Faster than any shoe size conversion chart: the app

Once you have your foot length, the rest is a lookup, and that is what Conversion Calculator is for. Its Male shoe and Female shoe screens, two premium categories, take a size from any of the seven countries or a foot length in centimeters or inches, and show everything else on the same screen, offline. They sit next to ring sizes and clothing sizes among the everyday conversions the app was built around.

Get the app free, and keep the printable shoe size chart by your computer for the next online order. For heights in feet and inches, the height conversion chart is the next page to bookmark.