How to Convert Shoe Sizes: US, UK, EU, Japan and China

Shoe sizes are conventions, not measurements. No single official standard links US, UK, European and Japanese sizes, and two brands can label the same foot half a size apart (sometimes a full size in EU numbers). The one number that does not change from shop to shop is the length of your foot. This guide shows how to measure it, how each sizing system turns that length into a size, and where the usual conversion charts disagree with each other.

Start with your foot length in centimeters

Every conversion below runs through foot length, so measure it first. Do it barefoot or in thin socks, standing, with your weight spread evenly:

1. Tape a sheet of paper to the floor, flush against a wall.
2. Stand on it with your heel touching the wall, looking straight ahead, without curling your toes.
3. Have someone mark the tip of your longest toe (not always the big toe), keeping the pen upright.
4. Measure from the wall to the mark in millimeters. Repeat for the other foot and use the longer one.

That number is your foot length, not your shoe length. A shoe, and the last (the foot-shaped form it is built on), is longer than the foot. Wikipedia's summary of sizing practice puts the difference at about ½ to ⅔ inch, which is 1.27 to 1.69 cm. Mizuno's measuring guide gives a similar rule of thumb: add 1 to 1.5 cm for shoe length. This gap is the source of most disagreements between charts, because some systems count the foot and others count the last.

How each system works

The formulas below are the approximations given in the Wikipedia article on shoe sizes. SamemaS uses exactly these to build its men's shoe size converter and women's shoe size converter, so the article and the tools agree.

US and UK: the barleycorn

English-speaking sizes count in barleycorns, an old unit of ⅓ inch (8.47 mm). A full size is one barleycorn and a half size is ⅙ inch (4.23 mm). By foot length in inches:

• US men: size ≈ 3 × foot length (in) − 22
• US women (FIA scale): size ≈ 3 × foot length (in) − 21, so one size above men's
• UK adults: size ≈ 3 × foot length (in) − 23, so one size below US men's

The UK has two scales. Children's sizes start at 0, for a 4 inch last, and run up to 13½. Adult sizing then restarts at 1, which Wikipedia gives as an 8⅔ inch (22.0 cm) last. Our tables cover adult sizes only.

Two US women's scales

US women's sizes are not one scale but two. On the "standard" or FIA (Footwear Industries of America) scale, women's size = men's size + 1. On what Wikipedia calls the "common" scale, women's size = men's size + 1.5. SamemaS uses the FIA scale. On it, a women's 9 is a men's 8 and a UK 7. A brand on the common scale would call the same foot a women's 9.5. US women's to UK is a gap of two sizes on our table (W8 = UK 6), and 2.5 on the common scale.

EU: the Paris point

Continental European sizes count in Paris points of ⅔ cm (6.67 mm), starting from zero length, which is why the numbers are in the high 30s and 40s. Strictly, an EU size is 1.5 × the last length in cm. Written in terms of the foot, Wikipedia gives:

• EU size ≈ 1.5 × foot length (cm) + 2

EU sizes are unisex, so the same formula serves men and women. Our tables round the result to the nearest half size.

Japan, China and Mondopoint: the foot itself

Mondopoint, defined in ISO 9407, labels shoes by the foot length they fit, in millimeters, plus a width. Japan's JIS S 5037 uses the same idea in centimeters with 5 mm steps (24, 24.5, 25…) and adds girth letters (A to G, with E, EE, EEE and so on in between). China's GB/T 3293.1 is also Mondopoint-based, so a Chinese 260 is a 26 cm foot. In our tables:

• JP / Mondopoint (cm) = foot length, rounded to the nearest 0.5 cm
• China (mm) = JP × 10

A JP 26 is therefore designed for a foot of about 26 cm, not a 26 cm shoe. Brands still differ in how much room they add, and width matters as much as length.

Men's shoe size chart

These rows are copied from the SamemaS men's table. UK = US − 1 everywhere; EU and JP come from the foot-length formulas.

US 8.5 and 9 both round to JP 26. That is expected: ⅓ inch steps (8.47 mm) don't line up with 5 mm steps, so now and then two US half sizes land in the same Japanese size.

Women's shoe size chart

US women's sizes on the FIA scale, copied from the SamemaS women's table.

Why brand charts often show a bigger EU size

Put a men's US 10 into many retail charts and you will see EU 43 or 44. Our table says 42.5. Both can be right, because they measure different things. The foot formula gives 1.5 × 27.1 + 2 = 42.6, which rounds to 42.5. A chart built on last length starts from a longer number: on Wikipedia's last formula, a US 10 has a last of (10 + 24) ÷ 3 = 11.33 in, or 28.79 cm, and 1.5 × 28.79 gives EU 43.2. Brands then add their own allowance on top.

So treat EU conversions as accurate to about one size in either direction. If a brand publishes a chart with foot lengths in centimeters, trust it over any generic table, including ours. If it doesn't, read reviews for comments like "runs small" before you order.

Worked example: one foot through every system

A foot measures 262 mm on the paper-and-wall test. Here is the full conversion:

1. Convert to inches: 26.2 ÷ 2.54 = 10.31 in.
2. US men: 3 × 10.31 − 22 = 8.94, which rounds to US men's 9.
3. US women (FIA): 3 × 10.31 − 21 = 9.94, so US women's 10 (10.5 on the common scale).
4. UK: 3 × 10.31 − 23 = 7.94, so UK 8.
5. EU: 1.5 × 26.2 + 2 = 41.3, which rounds to EU 41.5. Expect many brands to call this EU 42 or 43.
6. Japan and Mondopoint: 26.2 cm rounds to JP 26; in China that is 260.

Check the result against the table: the US men's 9 row shows UK 8, EU 41.5, JP 26 and a 26.2 cm foot. If your foot sits between two rows, try both sizes where you can, or check the brand's chart for the foot-length range each size covers.

Width, and what the letters mean

Length is only half of fit. Width designations differ by country and are not interchangeable:

• US and Canada: letters run AAA, AA, A, B, C, D, E, EE, EEE from narrow to wide. An unlettered men's shoe is a D; an unlettered women's shoe is a B. So a women's D is a wide fit, while a men's D is standard.
• UK: "medium" is often an F, but the letter varies by manufacturer, so a UK F is not a US F.
• Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea: girth designators (A, B, C, D, E, EE, EEE, EEEE, F, G) describe the girth around the ball of the foot for a given length.

If you have wide feet, measure the girth too: wrap a soft tape around the widest part of the foot, across the joints of the big and little toes, while standing. Mizuno's guide, for example, measures girth this way to choose a Japanese width.

Using the SamemaS shoe size tables

The men's and women's shoe size converters are lookup tables, not calculators. Pick a column (US, UK / AU, EU, JP / Mondopoint, China, foot length in inches or centimeters), choose a value, and the matching row is highlighted. Men's sizes run from US 5 to 15 and women's from US 4 to 13. The easiest way in is the Foot (cm) column: choose the value closest to your measurement and read across. To convert your measurement between inches and centimeters first, use the length converter. For clothes, the same idea applies to chest and bust measurements; see our guide to international clothing size charts.

Quick checklist

• Measure your longer foot in millimeters, standing, heel against a wall.
• JP, Mondopoint and Chinese sizes are that foot length (in cm or mm), rounded to 5 mm.
• UK = US men's − 1. US women's = US men's + 1 on the FIA scale, or + 1.5 on the common scale.
• EU ≈ 1.5 × foot cm + 2, but many brand charts run about one EU size higher.
• Brands differ by about half a size. Their own chart, read with your foot length, beats any generic table.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Shoe size — Wikipedia
2. ISO 9407:2019 Shoe sizes: Mondopoint system of sizing and marking — International Organization for Standardization
3. ISO/TS 19407:2015 Footwear: Sizing: Conversion of sizing systems — ANSI Webstore
4. How to measure your foot size (foot length, foot girth) — Mizuno