Iron and nutrient markers
Iron Levels by Age: What Is a Normal Serum Iron?
Reviewed by a qualified clinician · analysed at UKAS-accredited UK labs (ISO 15189)
Last reviewed September 20268 min read
Every Helvy guide is written by our health editors, then checked by a qualified clinician before it goes live and re-checked as the science moves. We name clinical roles, not individuals, until each reviewer has agreed to be credited publicly. This is wellness guidance to help you understand your own data, not a diagnosis.
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UK labs print one adult serum iron range at every age, split only by sex. University Hospitals of North Midlands uses 10 to 25 µmol/L for women and 13 to 32 for men. Serum iron swings through the day, so ferritin, the protein that banks your iron, is the steadier number.
Not sure which markers you need? Build your test →Your result says iron 11. You are a woman of 47, tired in a way sleep does not fix, and the range beside the number starts at 10. So it is technically fine. You go looking for an iron chart by age, hoping 11 means something different at 47.
There is no such chart, and the reason is more useful than the chart would have been. Serum iron is the wrong number to ask that question of. This guide gives you the UK figures, then the marker that answers what you are actually asking.
1. What is a normal iron level in the UK?
Around 10 to 25 µmol/L for women and 13 to 32 for men. That marker is serum iron, which counts the iron circulating in your blood right now. It is not a measure of how much iron you have stored.
These are the bands published by University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust. Other UK labs sit close, though the exact figures move a little between analysers.
| Group | Range | Age bands? |
|---|---|---|
| Women | 10 to 25 µmol/L | None |
| Men | 13 to 32 µmol/L | None |
What does an iron of 9, 14 or 30 mean?
Most people arrive holding one figure. Here it is, one value at a time, in µmol/L.
| Your iron | If you are female | If you are male |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Just under the floor | Low |
| 11 | Normal, at the bottom | Just under the floor |
| 14 | Normal | Normal, at the bottom |
| 20 | Normal, upper half | Normal |
| 26 | Just above the ceiling | Normal, upper half |
| 35 | Raised | Raised |
If your result is in American units, divide the µg/dL figure by 5.587. So 100 µg/dL is about 18 µmol/L, and 60 µg/dL is about 11.
One caveat covers the whole table, and it is a big one. A single serum iron figure is the least reliable part of an iron panel. Sections 3 and 5 explain why.
2. Is there an official iron chart by age?
No, not for adults. Your lab prints one range for women and one for men, and compares you with it at 22 and at 82.
Children are different. Infants and young children are reported against their own bands, because a growing body handles iron differently. From the late teens onward, everybody shares the adult range.
The charts by age you find online are nearly always about ferritin or haemoglobin rather than serum iron. Those two markers do shift across a life, and our ferritin levels by age guide covers the version most people actually want.
3. Why does your serum iron swing hour to hour?
Because it measures traffic, not reserves. The iron in your bloodstream is on its way somewhere, and how much is in transit depends on the time of day, your last meal and whether you are fighting something off.
The lab that publishes the range says so itself, which is unusually candid for a test directory:
“Levels fluctuate widely throughout the day, and from one day to another, and are often low in infection and inflammation.”
— University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
Three practical consequences follow. An iron tablet taken that morning can lift the result. A cold last week can lower it. And two samples taken days apart can disagree without either being wrong.
That is why nobody reads serum iron on its own. The same trust adds the line every lab handbook carries: results outside the range do not necessarily indicate disease, and results inside it do not rule anything out.
4. What really does change with age?
Not the range. What changes is how much iron you lose, and that follows life stage rather than the calendar.
Periods are the largest single drain in the UK population. The National Diet and Nutrition Survey found low iron intakes, and to a lesser extent low haemoglobin and iron stores, in girls aged 11 to 18 and women aged 19 to 64. Nine per cent of those girls, and 5% of those women, fell below the World Health Organization threshold on both haemoglobin and ferritin.
Once periods stop, that drain stops with them. Iron stores in women typically climb through the years after the menopause. Our guide to periods and iron levels covers the monthly picture.
Which is why the same low result is followed up differently at different ages. The British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines note that roughly a third of men and postmenopausal women who turn up with iron deficiency anaemia have an underlying cause found, most often in the gut. In a menstruating woman the likeliest explanation is usually already known.
So a low iron result in a man of 60 is a reason to see a GP rather than to buy tablets. That is a statement about how UK practice works, not a diagnosis of anything.
5. Which iron marker should you read instead?
Ferritin, first. Ferritin is the protein that holds iron in reserve, so it shows roughly how much you have banked rather than how much is in transit today.
- Ferritin reflects your stores, and is the marker clinicians lean on most.
- Transferrin saturation shows how full your iron transport system is.
- TIBC measures how much carrying capacity you have spare.
- A full blood count shows whether your red cells have gone small and pale.
One catch with ferritin. It rises during infection and inflammation, which can mask low stores. That is the case for reading the set together, and for the pattern covered in low ferritin with a normal haemoglobin.
6. Which blood test includes iron?
Serum iron on its own is rarely worth ordering. What you want is the set, which labs call iron studies.
Helvy's Vitamins & Minerals test measures iron, ferritin, transferrin, transferrin saturation and TIBC together, alongside vitamin B12, folate, vitamin D and magnesium. That gives you the whole iron picture plus the nutrients that sit beside it. It is a home finger-prick kit, processed by UKAS-accredited UK labs.
Take the sample before your morning supplements rather than after, and leave it a couple of weeks after any illness. Both habits make the numbers easier to read.
If you are not sure which panel fits, the build-my-test tool walks you through it in about a minute.
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See your iron as a full workup, not one number
Helvy's home blood tests report all five iron markers with plain-English context, so a borderline figure never sends you guessing. Samples are processed by UKAS-accredited UK labs.
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal iron level by age in the UK?
There is no adult age chart for serum iron. University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust uses 10 to 25 µmol/L for women and 13 to 32 for men, at every adult age. Only children get their own bands.
Is an iron level of 11 low?
For a woman, 11 sits just inside a 10 to 25 µmol/L range. For a man it is below a floor of 13. Either way, one serum iron figure settles little. Ferritin is the number worth looking at next.
Why is serum iron not a reliable test?
Because it measures iron in transit. University Hospitals of North Midlands says levels fluctuate widely through the day and from one day to another, and are often low in infection and inflammation. Ferritin is far steadier.
Do iron levels rise after the menopause?
Iron stores usually do, because monthly losses stop. The printed reference range does not change. It is the same band before and after.
How many UK women have low iron?
The National Diet and Nutrition Survey found 5% of women aged 19 to 64 below the World Health Organization threshold on both haemoglobin and ferritin, rising to 9% of girls aged 11 to 18.
How do I convert an American iron result to UK units?
Divide the µg/dL figure by 5.587. So 60 µg/dL is about 11 µmol/L, 100 µg/dL is about 18, and 150 µg/dL is about 27. UK labs report in µmol/L.
Should I stop iron tablets before a blood test?
A dose taken that morning can lift your serum iron reading. Take the sample before your supplements, and tell whoever reads the result what you are taking. Do not stop a prescribed course without asking your GP.
Is a high iron level something to worry about?
A single raised serum iron is often a supplement taken too close to the sample. What matters more is a high ferritin with a high transferrin saturation, repeated. That combination is worth a GP conversation rather than a search engine.
Related guides
Normal Serum Iron Levels UK
The range in full, and what sits at each end of it.
Ferritin Levels by Age UK
The iron marker that really does move across a life.
Energy and fatigue hub
Every tiredness and nutrient guide in one place.
Blood Test Reference Ranges UK
Why 'normal' on a lab report is a population range, not a target.
Related panels
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