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Waist-to-Hip Ratio Calculator

Enter your waist and hip circumferences to get your waist-to-hip ratio, compared with the cut-points published in the World Health Organization expert consultation on waist circumference and waist–hip ratio. Your waist measurement is also shown against the WHO waist cut-points, because the report recommends reading the two together rather than relying on the ratio alone.

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Calculator

Units

The WHO publishes two cut-points — 0.90 for men and 0.85 for women. Choosing neither still gives you the ratio, without a band applied to it.

Measure midway between your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone, against skin, at the end of a normal breath out — snug but not pulled tight.

Measure around the widest point of your buttocks, keeping the tape level.

Runs entirely in your browser — values are never sent to a server or stored.

How we calculate it

Waist-to-hip ratio = waist circumference ÷ hip circumference

Waist-to-hip ratio is waist circumference divided by hip circumference, with both measured in the same unit. The World Health Organization expert consultation on waist circumference and waist–hip ratio describes a substantially increased risk of metabolic complications at a ratio of 0.90 or above in men and 0.85 or above in women. The same report gives waist circumference cut-points — 94 cm and 102 cm for men, 80 cm and 88 cm for women — and this calculator reports your waist against them as well, because the report is explicit that the ratio and the circumference carry different information and a rise in the ratio can come from a smaller hip measurement as easily as from a larger waist. The WHO measurement protocol is to take the waist midway between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone and the hip at the widest point of the buttocks, with the tape level, against skin, and snug without compressing. The report also records that the optimal cut-points differ between ethnic groups, and several countries apply lower waist thresholds for South Asian, Chinese and Japanese populations.

Important limitations

  • The ratio is very sensitive to tape placement. Measuring the waist at the navel rather than at the WHO landmark will usually give a different number, and the hip measurement has the same problem.
  • A ratio can rise because the waist grew or because the hips shrank, and it cannot distinguish the two — which is why the WHO report recommends reading it alongside waist circumference rather than instead of it.
  • The WHO report itself notes that optimal cut-points differ between ethnic groups, and several countries apply lower waist thresholds for South Asian, Chinese and Japanese populations.
  • Only two cut-points are published, for adult men and adult women. There is no published third value, and the ratio is not used during pregnancy or in children.
  • Circumference cannot distinguish fat from muscle, a broad pelvis, bloating or fluid, and it says nothing about fitness.
  • This is a screening measurement describing body shape. It is not a diagnosis and it does not measure any individual’s risk.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

This page is based on the following sources. Each was reviewed on the access date shown.

  1. Waist circumference and waist-hip ratio: report of a WHO expert consultation, Geneva, 8-11 December 2008(opens in a new tab)

    World Health Organization

    Clinical guidelinePublished January 1, 2011Accessed September 27, 2026

  2. Overweight and obesity management: identifying and assessing overweight, obesity and central adiposity (NG246)(opens in a new tab)

    National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

    Clinical guidelinePublished January 14, 2025Accessed September 27, 2026

  3. A healthy lifestyle — WHO recommendations(opens in a new tab)

    World Health Organization

    Government health agencyAccessed September 27, 2026

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