How big is the average penis? Let’s compare with household objects.

Size matters… for science, anyway.

While there have been numerous prior studies (both scholarly and unscientific) on penis size, the British Journal of Urology International(opens in a new tab) (BJUI) published one of the girthiest analyses to date. Pulling data from 17 previous academic papers that included a total of 15,521 men worldwide, researchers in the UK came up with a meta-analysis of what they believe to be the average penis size and girth of a penis when erect and when flaccid.

Sorry, guys, but your eggplant emoji isn’t exactly accurate. According to the research in BJUI, the average flaccid penis is 3.61 inches in length and 5.16 inches in length when erect. Girth is 3.66 inches when flaccid and 4.59 inches when erect.

Numbers aren’t the only results to come out of the study. It also questions some of the common penis size stereotypes, like whether your race or foot size are determining factors for penis size.

The researchers did not find enough evidence from the 17 previous studies to come up with a conclusion about the difference in size by race. Two studies incorporated foot size into account, and found penile length to be “significantly weakly correlated,” while the other did not find a correlation at all between the two.

The stronger statistically significant correlations were between flaccid stretched or erect length and height, which was found in four studies, although the correlations were not extremely strong.

Of course, there are a few limitations that could affect penile dimensions, including temperature, level of arousal, and sperm count.

But we’re much more interested in what 3.61 and 5.16 inches actually looks like, so we’ve compared the two averages with everyday household objects.

Let’s get establish a penis size baseline …

Blue Lego is the size of an average flaccid penis.

Red Lego is the size of an average erect penis.

The average flaccid penis is 3.61 inches. The average erect penis is 5.16 inches. This is what that looks like in Lego form.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

Now let’s get comparing to 17 household items …

1. A crayon

The average penis size compared to a crayon.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

2. A pair of batteries

Average penis size compared to batteries.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

3. A Nerf Dart

Average penis size compared to Nerf Dart.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

4. A “fun” size Snickers bar

Average penis size compared to a candy bar. But not a full size one.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

5. A small cactus

Average penis size compared to a small cactus. (Don’t put your penis near a cactus.)
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

6. A ticket

Average penis size compared to a ticket of some sort.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

7. A pair of wine corks

Average penis size compared to not one, but TWO wine corks.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

8. A shot glass

Average penis size compared to a shot glass (before you had a shot anyway).
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

9. A Diet Coke can

Average penis size compared to a Diet Coke can, or really soda can really. Even if your penis is a La Croix guy.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

10. Three batteries

The average flaccid penis is two batteries, but the average erect penis is about three batteries.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

11. Hand lotion

Average penis size compared to lotion bottle, but not like a huge bottle of lotion.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

12. Three small Snickers bars, just the tip bitten off one

Average penis size compared to delicious, slightly eaten candy.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

13. (Almost) two sticks of gum

Average penis size compared to sticks of gum. Minty.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

14. Two toothpicks

Average penis size compared to toothpicks (length wise, at least).
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

15. Three wine corks

Average penis size compared to wine corks.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

16. A small TV remote

Average penis size compared to small TV remote. Power off.
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

17. And, of course, a banana

Average penis size vs. a banana
Credit: Luke Leonard, Mashable

UPDATE: Jun. 5, 2023, 1:17 p.m. AEST This article was originally published in 2015, and has since been updated in Jun. 2023.