News just in: this is the size of the average penis.

Image: iStock

It’s a question men (and women) have been quietly asking themselves, and even fretting over, for aeons. Now, thanks to science, we finally have hard stats on the size of the average penis.

There’s no point beating around the bush with this kind of thing, so here’s the answer we’ve all been waiting for:

The average penis is 13.12 cm, or 5.16 inches, long when erect, and 9.16 cm long when flaccid.

These findings have emerged from an international study involving 15,000 men (and their respective appendages), published in the journal BJU International.

Now, if you're anything like us, you're probably quite surprised by these figures. Let's talk straight here for a moment: the measurements are a bit smaller than you'd expected, right?

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There's a reason for that — urban myths, not to mention porn stars, sex toys and heavily airbrushed underwear commercials (Beckham and Bieber, anybody?), would have us believe the average penis was somewhere closer to the seven inch mark, or more. Is it any wonder men are often self-conscious about their junk?

The British researchers behind the study are hoping their conclusions will offer some reassurance to "the large majority of men that the size of their penis is in the normal range." Finally, a health study with a happy ending, so to speak.

In fact, the study team states that only 2.28 per cent of men have an abnormally small penis, and it's a similar story with abnormally large ones. In other words, the men who relentlessly boast about their enormous manhood are probably no larger than average. Perhaps it's worth keeping that figure in mind for future encounters with insufferable braggarts.

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Some other interesting tidbits from the research included the lack of evidence to suggest penis size can be determined by race, though the men in the study were of Middle Eastern and European descent only.

And here's another big manhood myth busted: the size of a guy's foot doesn't have any bearing on his endowment. Let's put that story to rest now, hmm?

Do you have any thoughts on these findings?

Speaking of male appendages, here's a selection of clouds that look like them, from the Tumblr account Penis Shaped Clouds. You're welcome.