Shoe Size Chart: US, UK, EU and Russian Sizes with Foot Length in Inches and cm

This shoe size chart puts US men’s and women’s, UK, EU and Russian sizes on one line with the foot length in inches and centimetres: a foot of 10.6 in (27.0 cm) is US men’s 10, US women’s 11, UK 9, EU 42½ and Russian 42. Below are charts for women, men and kids and a combined chart in cm, followed by how each system counts and why brands still disagree by half a size.

How to read a shoe size chart in one minute

A shoe size chart works in one direction: from the foot to the size. Measure the foot first, find the row with that length, then read across to the system you need. Working backwards from the number in an old pair introduces an error, because different brands print the same number on different lengths.

• Find the “Foot, in” or “Foot, cm” column and the value closest to your measurement.
• If your length falls between two rows, take the longer one.
• Read the size in the column you need: US for American brands, UK for British ones, EU for most European labels, Russia for shops in Russia.
• Use the women’s or men’s US column according to the shoe, since the two differ by a full size.

Example: a foot of 9.6 in, or 24.3 cm, is US women’s 7½, US men’s 6½, UK 5½, EU 38½ and Russian 38. In Mondopoint, which writes the foot length in millimetres, it is 243.

The four charts above cover women’s sizes from Russian 33 to 45, men’s from 37 to 52, kids’ feet from 100 to 230 mm, and a combined chart in centimetres for feet from 21.0 to 33.7 cm (8.3 to 13.3 in).

How to measure your foot for shoe size

Every column in the chart depends on one measurement, so it is worth taking it carefully.

• Measure in the evening, when the foot is at its largest, wearing the socks you will wear with the shoes.
• Stand on a sheet of paper with your heel against a wall and mark the tip of the longest toe, which is not always the big toe.
• Measure from the wall to the mark with a ruler, in inches or centimetres.
• Measure both feet and use the longer one.

Do not add room for the toes yourself. Each sizing system already builds that allowance into its formula, and adding it twice is the most common way to end up a size too large. A foot of 26.3 cm is US men’s 9 and EU 41½; a foot of 27.3 cm, the same foot with a centimetre added, reads as US men’s 10 and EU 43.

US to UK shoe size conversion for men and women

The UK and US systems count in barleycorns, a third of an inch, about 8.47 mm per full size. The American scale grew out of the British one and is shifted against it: US men’s is UK plus 1, US women’s is UK plus 2. That is why UK 9 sits on the same row as US men’s 10 and US women’s 11, and all three fit a foot of 10.6 in.

SATRA, the British footwear research body, gives the same relationship: a women’s UK 5 is sold in the United States as a 7, and a men’s US 12 is a UK 11. It also notes that a women’s UK 5 used to be called a US 6½ some years ago, so older charts can be half a size out.

A second American women’s scale, still common in shops, adds 1½ to the men’s size instead of 1. Boxes rarely say which scale was used, so on unisex trainers the gap between the women’s and men’s number may be either.

Because a UK half size is 4.23 mm and a Russian or EU half size is 3.33 mm, the scales do not line up evenly. In the chart two neighbouring EU sizes sometimes share one UK size: EU 38 and 38½ are both UK 5½.

EU to US shoe size conversion: why there is no simple rule

European sizes use the Paris point, two thirds of a centimetre, about 6.67 mm per size. The count starts from the length of the last, which is roughly the foot plus 1.5 cm. US and UK sizes use a larger step and a different starting point, so no fixed number converts one into the other.

The gap between EU and US men’s sizes changes along the chart. A foot of 25.0 cm is EU 39½ and US men’s 7½, a difference of 32; a foot of 29.0 cm is EU 45½ and US men’s 12½, a difference of 33. Any rule of the “subtract a constant” kind is correct on some rows and wrong on others.

The same applies to the Russian size, which is often described online as EU minus one. The Russian formula adds 1 cm to the foot, the European about 1.5 cm, and the EU number is rounded down to the half. On the chart the EU size is larger by half a size on most rows and by a full size on some: a foot of 24.0 cm is Russian 37½ and EU 38, a foot of 22.5 cm is Russian 35 and EU 36.

The practical rule: if a seller gives only one system, convert through the foot length in inches or centimetres. Every row of the chart is built that way.

Shoe size systems compared

The combined chart in centimetres brings five systems together. They differ in two things: what they measure, the foot or the last, and the step between neighbouring sizes.

Mondopoint records the foot length in millimetres with a 5 mm step, and is widely used in China, Japan and other parts of Asia. SATRA’s example lines up with the chart on this page: a men’s UK 9 is Mondopoint 270.

Foot length vs shoe size: how much room to leave

Foot length and shoe size are two different numbers. The foot is what you measured. The shoe size is the number of the last the pair was made on, and the last is longer than the foot by an allowance for the toes and by any extra length the toe style needs. Insole length is longer than the foot for the same reason, so measuring the insole of an old pair and treating it as your foot is a common source of a full-size error.

Research in the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research suggests leaving 10 to 20 mm between the longest toe and the end of the shoe, roughly the width of a thumb. The same authors cite figures that 72 to 81 per cent of older people and 88 per cent of women aged 20 to 60 wore shoes that did not fit.

The room is needed because the foot lengthens and moves forward as you walk. For choosing from the chart, the foot length alone is enough, since the allowance is already part of every system’s formula.

Why shoe sizes vary between brands

The formulas are shared, but each brand decides how much room to build into the last and how to round half sizes. As a result, charts from different makers differ by up to half a size and occasionally by a full one.

• Length allowance. Somewhere between 10 and 20 mm is left beyond the toes, and each brand chooses its own figure.
• Toe shape. A long or pointed toe needs extra decorative length that the toes never use.
• Rounding. The EU number comes from the last length rounded to the half, the UK to half a barleycorn, and each maker picks its own rule.
• Changing conventions. The shift from US women’s 6½ to 7 for a UK 5 is one example SATRA records.

Two charts that differ by 3 to 4 mm send the same foot to neighbouring half sizes. A brand’s own chart that states the foot length for each size is therefore more precise than any general chart, and when a label gives the foot or insole length, compare it with your own measurement.

Russian shoe sizes explained

Russian sizes follow GOST 11373-88, a Soviet standard approved in 1988 and in force from 1990. It describes two scales. The metric one gives the foot length in millimetres in 5 mm steps and is printed on boxes as a three-digit number such as 240, 245 or 250. The familiar sizes such as 38 or 42 come from the second scale, given in the standard as a reference table.

Those familiar sizes are calculated by adding 1 cm to the foot length and multiplying by 1.5. A foot of 25.0 cm gives (25 + 1) × 1.5 = 39, a Russian 39. By the same formula a foot of 23.0 cm is a 36 and 27.0 cm is a 42, so each full size adds about 6.7 mm and each half size about 3.3 mm.

Because the metric and the familiar scales use different steps, the metric numbers fall unevenly on the familiar ones. On the chart a foot of 240 mm is a Russian 37½, 245 mm a 38 and 250 mm a 39.

A newer standard, GOST R 58149-2018, adopts Mondopoint, the same idea of foot length in millimetres. Imported shoes in Russian shops carry EU, UK or US numbers, so conversion still goes through the foot length.

When a shoe size chart is not enough

A chart answers for length only. An analysis of 1.2 million 3D foot scans published in Scientific Reports found that among North American men with a 270 mm foot, 90 per cent varied by 15.8 mm in width and 16.2 mm in instep height. A single width fitted at most 40.1 per cent of them, and at least three widths per length were needed to fit 90 per cent.

• Feet of different lengths. A half size in the EU or Russian scale is 3.3 mm. If the two feet differ by more, one of them always gets the wrong length.
• Width. At the same length, girth across the ball differs by several widths between people, while shop shoes usually come in one.
• High instep. The instep presses against the lacing or the boot shaft. A size larger fits over the instep but slips at the heel and the toe.
• A size outside the shop range. Mass-market women’s ranges usually stop around Russian 41, about US women’s 10, and men’s around Russian 46, about US men’s 13. Longer and shorter feet end up on someone else’s last.

If a pair still does not fit after following the chart and trying it on, the cause is usually width, instep or a difference between the feet. These are the pairs that are made to measure.

Shoes made to your foot size

When no row of the chart fits, a pair can be made to your measurements. Sergey Grechushkin’s bespoke shoe workshop in Moscow makes men’s and women’s shoes for Russian sizes 33 to 52, feet from 21.0 to 33.7 cm, or 8.3 to 13.3 in. Children’s shoes are made mostly for teenagers. The shoemaker measures both feet and builds the lasts, so a size number is not needed.

If the feet are different sizes, the pair is made on two lasts, one for each shoe, and there is no upper limit on the difference.

An order includes lasts made to your measurements, about six weeks, and one to three fittings of a trial pair. Prices start from 100,000 roubles a pair. The first pair takes about 10 weeks; a repeat pair on the existing last takes from 4 weeks. The consultation is free.

The measuring visit is at the workshop near Taganskaya metro in Moscow, by appointment only, between 10:00 and 20:00.