--- title: "Dicks Are Getting Longer and Scientists Don’t Know Why" description: "The average penis length has increased by almost a quarter — and the scientists who discovered this apparent growth spurt say it might not be a good thing. " date: "2023-02-19" modified: "2023-02-19" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/penis-length-increase" categories: - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "male health" - "penis" - "reproductive health" - "sexual health" --- # Dicks Are Getting Longer and Scientists Don’t Know Why ![The average penis length has increased by almost a quarter — and the scientists who discovered this apparent growth spurt say it might not be a good thing. ]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* The average penis length worldwide has increased by 25 percent in recent decades — and the scientists who discovered this apparent growth spurt say it might not be a good thing. In a paper published on Valentine's Day [in the *World's Journal of Men's Health*](), Stanford researchers observed that per their meta-analysis of decades of studies, the length of erect penises has increased 24 percent — from 4.8 inches to about six — over the past roughly 30 years, even as testosterone levels and sperm quality have declined. To get there, the researchers sifted through 75 studies that went as far back as 1942 and comprised data on nearly 56,000 men. They were surprised to find that for the last 29 years of the period they studied, the reported length of erect penises began swelling. What's more: this trend wasn't, as latent race science enthusiasts might speculate, isolated to any one part of the world, but seemed to be occurring all over the globe. While the researchers were able to see the *effect* of this apparent trend, they're unsure as to its cause. That lack of clear causation is, as Stanford Medicine urologist [Dr. Michael Eisenberg told *USA Today*](), something of a red flag. "The million-dollar question is why this would occur," said Eisenberg, who specializes in male fertility. Given the underwhelming results of studies on sperm count and testosterone level trends in recent years, the Stanford research team behind the paper said in a school press release that they wouldn't have been surprised to see penis length declining alongside those data. Instead, they found the opposite. "Given the trends we'd seen in other measures of men's reproductive health," the press release notes, "we thought there could be a decline in penile length due to the same environmental exposures." While penis length isn't directly correlated to sexual health, the Stanford press release notes that it nevertheless is worthy of study because it's not positive on its face, either. "The increase happened over a relatively short period of time," the school's update notes. "Any overall change in development is concerning." It'll be fascinating to see where this line of inquiry goes next — and, of course, how the [male enhancement industrial complex]() handles it. **More on dicks:** [*Scientists Officially Link Sports Cars to Small Penis Size*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()