When does puberty end?
Executive summary
Puberty ends when an individual completes the biological stages that lead to sexual maturity—clinically captured as Tanner Stage 5—most often in the mid-to-late teens, though the exact age varies widely by sex, population and individual circumstances [1] [2]. Medical definitions distinguish completion of physical puberty from continued brain and psychosocial development, and clinicians track outliers (precocious or delayed puberty) for possible intervention [3] [2].
1. What “when does puberty end?” is actually asking
The question can mean different things: the end of the visible physical changes of puberty (breast and genital development, pubic hair, growth spurt), the point of reproductive maturity (ability to conceive or produce viable gametes), or the broader adolescent brain and emotional maturation that continues past physical changes; medical sources treat the first two as measurable stages while noting that psychological maturation is distinct [1] [2].
2. The clinical marker: Tanner Stage 5 and typical ages
End of puberty is conventionally marked by Tanner Stage 5—the final phase of physical development—after which secondary sexual characteristics have reached adult form and the growth spurt has finished; clinical guides state Stage 5 is the final phase and that, for many young people, physical puberty is essentially complete by mid-to-late teens (boys roughly 16–17 and girls roughly 15–17 in many summaries) [1] [2] [4].
3. Expected age ranges and common guidance
Public-health and pediatric sources give wide but overlapping ranges: onset typically between about 8–13 for girls and 9–14 for boys, with many resources saying the process takes several years and usually finishes in the mid-to-late teens—examples include ranges like girls finishing by about 13–17 and boys by about 15–18 in population studies, and clinical sheets that place most girls’ and boys’ puberty completion in the 15–17 and 16–17 windows respectively [3] [2] [4] [5].
4. Why there is such variability: genes, environment and secular trends
Variation in when puberty ends reflects variation in when it begins and how fast it proceeds; genetics may account for 50–80% of onset variation, but environmental factors (nutrition, body fat, endocrine disruptors) and long-term secular trends toward earlier onset in many countries also affect timing and can lengthen or shorten the interval to completion [6] [7] [2].
5. When puberty doesn’t follow the usual course: precocious and delayed puberty
Medicine defines precocious puberty as puberty beginning abnormally early and delayed puberty as onset later than expected; most children with delayed puberty eventually complete a normal puberty, but clinicians monitor both early and late cases because underlying medical conditions, nutrition or hormonal disorders can explain atypical timing and sometimes require treatment [8] [3] [9].
6. Physical completion versus brain and psychosocial maturity
Even after Tanner Stage 5 and cessation of the growth spurt, adolescent brains continue to mature—affecting mood, impulse control and decision-making—so “end of puberty” in a social or psychological sense can lag behind the biological endpoint described by pediatric endocrinology [2] [10].
7. Bottom line: a practical, evidence-based answer
For most people, the physical process of puberty ends in the mid-to-late teens—commonly by about 15–17 years for girls and 16–18 years for boys—marked clinically by completion of Tanner Stage 5 and the end of the adolescent growth spurt; substantial individual and population variation exists, and clinicians watch for precocious or delayed patterns that fall well outside those ranges [1] [2] [4] [3].