EU 26 is where the mislabelling problem bites: a 2018 study of 1898 children's shoes found 86 percent measured shorter inside than their printed size, some by up to four sizes.
CM to EU conversion
From centimetres to EU kids' sizes the offset grows from 9 to 14 with no reset, since EU counts straight up: 16 cm is EU 26 and 22 cm is EU 35.5. This is the steadier way to size a growing child, because the EU number never doubles back the way US and UK do. Measuring the foot and reading to EU gives one rising scale, so the only judgement left is how much growing room to add on top.
At this size, CM to EU
One size up from 16 cm, EU moves 1 to EU 27 while the metric length rises 0.5 to 16.5 cm. Both 16 cm and EU 26 are whole numbers here, so nothing rounds. For 16 cm, the EU column here runs EU 25, EU 26, EU 27, stepping a full number at a time.
Foot length vs shoe length
A CM shoe size is your measured foot length, not the space inside the shoe.
Brands add 0.5 to 1.0 cm of toe room so your toes clear the front. Japanese cm
labels already include about 1 cm of it, so a JP 24.0 measures near 25 cm
inside; an EU number instead describes the last. That built-in gap is why
conversion tables disagree.
Why one foot length gives many sizes
Size Chart CM EU US UK 15 24 8 7 15.5 25 8.5 7.5 16 26 9 8 16.5 27 9.5 8.5 17 28 10 9 17.5 28.5 10.5 9.5
Frequently Asked Questions Does 16 cm round up or down in EU? Buy by the inner length in millimetres, not the number on the box, and round toward the larger measured shoe; the label alone is unreliable at this age.
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Note Kids sizes transition to adult sizes around EU 38 / US 5 Children's feet grow rapidly - remeasure every 3-4 months Allow 10-15mm growing room when fitting Shoe sizes can vary by brand and style See a number that looks off? Report an error on this page.