📊 British Culture
Do British People Weigh in Stone or Kg?
The answer depends on where you ask. On the bathroom scales: stone. At the GP: kilograms (translated to stone). At the gym: kilograms. Britain weighs itself in two units at once.
What the Surveys Say
Hard numbers on this are rare, but a YouGov survey of 1,516 British adults (June 2015) asked people which units they actually knew their own measurements in. The results capture the dual system perfectly: 48% knew their weight in pounds, 39% knew it in kilograms, and only 37% knew their height in metres and centimetres. Imperial leads for body weight; metric has not caught up.
The age splits in that survey tell the deeper story. Awareness of metric units was notably higher among younger respondents, while older respondents were far more likely to know imperial. Britain is not one weighing culture but two, divided roughly by the age at which metric education took hold. For the cultural reasons behind the stone's survival, see why the UK still uses stone.
Three Places, Three Units
1. The Bathroom: Stone Rules
The bathroom scale is the stone's fortress. UK bathroom scales ship with stone-and-pounds as the default display mode, offering kg and lb as alternatives you have to select. Manufacturers do this because it is what British customers expect: step on, see "12st 4lb," understand instantly. Our guide to changing scales from kg to stone exists precisely because new scales sometimes arrive set to kilograms and confuse their owners.
2. The GP Surgery: Kg on File, Stone in Conversation
At the doctor, the two systems meet. NHS records are kept in kilograms, but GPs translate into stone when talking to patients, because that is the unit patients understand. Many patients report their weight to the GP in stone and never learn the kg figure at all. Our doctors and stone vs kg guide explains how consultations handle the switch.
3. The Gym: Kilograms Winning
The gym is the one place where metric is clearly winning. Weight plates, barbells, and machines are marked in kilograms worldwide, and personal trainers programme in kg. Younger gym-goers, who learned metric at school and use fitness apps that default to kg, are comfortable with it. But even here the stone lingers: ask a British lifter their body weight and you will often hear stone, even from someone who just deadlifted 140 kg.
The Generational Divide
The pattern is consistent: the older the Briton, the more certain the stone. People who went to school before metrication took hold in classrooms think in stone, feet, and pints without effort. People educated entirely in metric are fluent in kilograms but usually still understand stone, because it saturates British media, family conversation, and the default setting of every bathroom scale they have ever owned.
This means the stone is not dying so much as diluting. Each generation is slightly more metric than the last, but the unit is constantly re-taught by culture even where schools do not teach it. A 25-year-old who has never seen "stone" in a textbook still learns it from parents, the BBC, and the scales in the bathroom. That cultural transmission is why the stone has outlived every prediction of its demise.
The practical takeaway: if you are writing for a British audience about weight, give both. "12 stone (76 kg)" costs nothing and serves every generation. Our stone vs kg comparison is built on exactly that principle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do British people weigh themselves in stone or kg?
Most weigh in stone and pounds. Bathroom scales in the UK typically default to stone, and stone is the unit people quote about their own weight. Kilograms are gaining ground among younger people and in gyms, but stone remains dominant.
Do young British people use stone?
Less than their parents. Under-40s are more comfortable with kilograms, having learned metric at school, and fitness apps default to kg. But even young Britons usually understand stone, and many still quote their weight in it.
Why do British scales show stone?
Because that is what customers expect. UK bathroom scales typically offer kg, lb, and st/lb modes, and stone is usually the default out of the box. Manufacturers follow the market, and the British market thinks in stone.
Do British gyms use stone or kg?
Mostly kilograms. Gym equipment, weight plates, and personal trainers generally work in kg, which is the international fitness standard. Many gym-goers mentally convert back to stone for their body weight.