During a visit to the UK today, Sir Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had a lot on their plate to discuss.
The pair have inked Kensington Treaty – which will free up school exchange visits, allow UK passengers to use passport e-gates in Germany and create a direct train service between the two countries.
But one question has been on everyone’s lips during this meeting – Just how tall is that guy?
Well, here’s your answer: Merz is 6ft 6in tall. So expect surprised googling of his height every time he meets another world leader for the rest of his term.
But does he compare to other top world leaders, though?
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In the absence of a nice picture showing the leaders of all countries lined up in height order (and we will continue to lobby the UN to make that happen), Metro has done the legwork to help you out.
Edi Rama
When Starmer met his long-serving Albanian counterpart Edi Rama earlier this year, there was plenty of substance to discuss.
Tackling illegal migration was on the agenda, as was the big European Political Community summit taking place in the capital Tirana.
But Rama, who has been Albania’s PM since 2013, also stands high at a whopping 6 foot 7 inches.
There’s no doubt, he’s an exceptionally tall man.
Vladimir Putin
First things first – world leaders tend to have more important things to do than be measured. A lot of the heights in this article will be estimates.
With that in mind, Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly 5ft 7in.
Volodymyr Zelensky
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is believed to be around 5ft 7in as well, making him the same height as Putin. We could have compared if the latter had bothered to turn up to peace talks in Istanbul today.
Some questions were asked about Zelensky’s true height when he met Tom Cruise in 2019 – and the famously diminutive actor seemed to be taller.
Donald Trump
The US President’s most recent health check earlier this year listed his height as 75 inches – or 6ft 3in.
But when he met Prince William last December, there was a fair amount of chin-stroking going on. The Prince of Wales is believed to also be 6ft 3in, but there seemed to be a clear height difference between the two.
Keir Starmer
It’s a bonus round! Let’s take a look at the heights of some of the British Prime Ministers over the past quarter-century.
Only one, David Cameron, crosses the 6ft barrier at 6ft 1in. Blair himself is 6ft tall, while his Chancellor Gordon Brown is 5ft 11in.
Boris Johnson is 5ft 9in, one inch taller than Starmer at 5ft 8in. Rishi Sunak was shorter still at 5ft 7in, then comes Theresa May at 5ft 6in, but Liz Truss is the shortest of the lot at 5ft 5in.
Pedro Sánchez
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is one of the taller European leaders, at a reported 6ft 2.5in.
And if you’re curious, he does appear to be a little taller than Donald Trump in their pictures together.
Giorgia Meloni
According to Italian media reports, the country’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is 5ft 3in.
Last year, a journalist was fined €5,000 (£4,210) for making fun of Meloni’s height on social media, in tweets that a judge ruled were defamatory.
Emmanuel Macron
It might be a relief to Emmanuel Macron that he’ll never be the main French leader who is known for his height – after all, it’s not called a ‘Napoleon complex’ for nothing.
He’s around 5ft 8in, roughly equivalent to Keir Starmer, and they appear to be a similar height in pictures were they appear beside each other.
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping has been described as the tallest Chinese leader since Chairman Mao.
A deep dive into his height by BBC News a decade ago concluded he is around 5ft 11in.
Mark Carney
Entertainingly, ice hockey site EliteProspects.com has a page on Mark Carney due to his time in the Oxford University team.
It lists him as 5ft 9in, but pictures of Carney meeting Keir Starmer in March show them roughly the same size, so he may be an inch shorter.
This story was originally published on May 15, 2025.
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