Square Metres to Square Feet: Area Guide
Area measurements come up in property listings, flooring projects, garden planning, land surveys and construction. The challenge is that different countries use different units. Property in the UK and US is often listed in square feet. Most of the rest of the world uses square metres. Farmland may be measured in acres or hectares.
This guide explains every common area unit, gives you the conversion formulas and links to the free Area Converter for instant results.
The Key Area Units
| Square metre (m²) | The SI unit of area. Used internationally for property, rooms and construction. |
| Square foot (sq ft) | Used in the US and UK for property listings and flooring. |
| Square centimetre (cm²) | Used for small areas such as phone screens and paper. |
| Square kilometre (km²) | Used for large geographic areas such as cities and countries. |
| Acre | Used in the US and UK for land. Roughly the size of a football pitch. |
| Hectare (ha) | Used internationally for large land areas. 1 hectare = 10,000 square metres. |
| Square mile | Used in the US and UK for large areas such as counties and national parks. |
| Square yard (sq yd) | Used occasionally in the US for fabric and carpet. |
Square Metres to Square Feet
Square feet = Square metres multiplied by 10.7639
Square metres = Square feet divided by 10.7639
Quick mental shortcut: multiply square metres by 10.75 for a very close estimate.
Example 1: A Room Is 20 Square Metres. How Many Square Feet?
20 multiplied by 10.7639 = 215.28 square feet
Example 2: A Listing Shows 1,200 Square Feet. What Is That in Square Metres?
1,200 divided by 10.7639 = 111.48 square metres
Area Conversion Reference Table
| Square Metres | Square Feet | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 10 m² | 107.6 sq ft | Small studio room |
| 20 m² | 215.3 sq ft | Typical single bedroom |
| 30 m² | 322.9 sq ft | Large bedroom or small studio flat |
| 50 m² | 538.2 sq ft | Small flat or apartment |
| 80 m² | 861.1 sq ft | Average UK flat |
| 100 m² | 1,076.4 sq ft | Average European apartment |
| 150 m² | 1,614.6 sq ft | Medium house |
| 200 m² | 2,152.8 sq ft | Large house |
| 500 m² | 5,381.9 sq ft | Very large property or small commercial space |
Acres and Hectares
| 1 acre | 4,046.86 square metres / 43,560 square feet / 0.4047 hectares |
| 1 hectare | 10,000 square metres / 107,639 square feet / 2.471 acres |
| 1 square mile | 640 acres / 258.999 hectares / 2.59 km² |
| 1 km² | 100 hectares / 247.105 acres / 0.386 square miles |
| 1 square foot | 0.0929 square metres / 0.0000229 acres |
| 1 square yard | 0.8361 square metres / 9 square feet |
How Big Is an Acre?
An acre is roughly the size of a standard American football field without the end zones. It is also about 75 percent of a standard soccer or football pitch. One acre is 4,047 square metres, and it takes about 10 minutes to walk around the perimeter at a normal pace.
How Big Is a Hectare?
A hectare is exactly 10,000 square metres. To visualise it, imagine a square with sides of 100 metres, which is roughly the size of a standard international football pitch. One hectare is 2.471 acres.
Flooring and Home Improvement
When buying flooring, tiles or carpet, you usually measure rooms in metres and buy material by the square metre. Shops in the US price by the square foot. Use the area converter to switch between them before purchasing.
Flooring Purchase Example
Your living room measures 4.5 metres by 3.5 metres.
Area = 4.5 multiplied by 3.5 = 15.75 square metres
Convert to square feet: 15.75 multiplied by 10.7639 = 169.53 square feet
Add 12 percent for wastage and cuts: 169.53 multiplied by 1.12 = approximately 190 square feet to order
Related Tools
- Area Converter square metres, square feet, acres, hectares and more
- Length Converter for measuring room dimensions before calculating area
- All Unit Converters browse all 74 converters on CalConvs
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I convert square metres to square feet?
Multiply square metres by 10.7639 to get square feet. For a quick mental estimate, multiply by 10.75 or simply by 11 for a rougher approximation. To go the other way, divide square feet by 10.7639 to get square metres. A 100 square metre apartment is about 1,076 square feet.
How big is 100 square metres in square feet?
100 square metres equals 1,076.4 square feet. This is the approximate size of an average European apartment. In the US, an apartment of this size would be described as roughly 1,076 square feet, which is a comfortable one or two bedroom apartment in most US cities.
How many square feet are in an acre?
There are exactly 43,560 square feet in one acre. There are also 4,047 square metres in an acre. A US football field (including end zones) is about 1.32 acres, and a standard soccer pitch is about 1.76 acres. The acre has been used in English land measurement since at least the 13th century.
How big is a hectare compared to an acre?
One hectare equals 2.471 acres, so a hectare is about two and a half times larger than an acre. A hectare is 10,000 square metres, a perfect 100 by 100 metre square. Hectares are used widely in agriculture and land planning internationally, while acres remain common in the US and UK.