AWG to mm2 Conversion Chart
American Wire Gauge, AWG, sizes a conductor by a gauge number that gets smaller as the wire gets larger. New Zealand and Australia size the same conductor by its cross-sectional area in square millimetres, though some people still use the legacy AWG sizes. This chart converts between them, and adds the thing the charts often leave out: how many amps each size will actually carry.
| AWG | Diameter mm | Diameter inch | Area mm2 | Area kcmil | Max current amps | Nearest metric mm2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/0 (0000) | 11.684 | 0.4600 | 107.2 | 211.6 | 1,072 | 95 mm2 in stock |
| 3/0 (000) | 10.405 | 0.4096 | 85.0 | 167.8 | 850 | 95 mm2 in stock |
| 2/0 (00) | 9.266 | 0.3648 | 67.4 | 133.1 | 674 | 70 mm2 |
| 1/0 (0) | 8.251 | 0.3249 | 53.5 | 105.5 | 535 | 50 mm2 in stock |
| 1 | 7.348 | 0.2893 | 42.4 | 83.7 | 424 | 35 mm2 in stock |
| 2 | 6.544 | 0.2576 | 33.6 | 66.4 | 336 | 35 mm2 in stock |
| 3 | 5.827 | 0.2294 | 26.7 | 52.6 | 267 | 25 mm2 in stock |
| 4 | 5.189 | 0.2043 | 21.2 | 41.7 | 212 | 25 mm2 in stock |
| 5 | 4.621 | 0.1819 | 16.8 | 33.1 | 168 | 16 mm2 in stock |
| 6 | 4.115 | 0.1620 | 13.3 | 26.3 | 133 | 16 mm2 in stock |
| 7 | 3.665 | 0.1443 | 10.5 | 20.8 | 105 | 10 mm2 in stock |
| 8 | 3.264 | 0.1285 | 8.366 | 16.5 | 84 | 10 mm2 in stock |
| 9 | 2.906 | 0.1144 | 6.634 | 13.1 | 66 | 6 mm2 |
| 10 | 2.588 | 0.1019 | 5.261 | 10.4 | 53 | 6 mm2 |
| 11 | 2.305 | 0.0907 | 4.172 | 8.234 | 42 | 4 mm2 |
| 12 | 2.053 | 0.0808 | 3.309 | 6.530 | 33 | 4 mm2 |
| 13 | 1.828 | 0.0720 | 2.624 | 5.178 | 26 | 2.50 mm2 in stock |
| 14 | 1.628 | 0.0641 | 2.081 | 4.107 | 21 | 2.50 mm2 in stock |
| 15 | 1.450 | 0.0571 | 1.650 | 3.257 | 17 | 2 mm2 |
| 16 | 1.291 | 0.0508 | 1.309 | 2.583 | 13 | 2 mm2 |
| 17 | 1.150 | 0.0453 | 1.038 | 2.048 | 10 | 1 mm2 |
| 18 | 1.024 | 0.0403 | 0.823 | 1.624 | 8.2 | 0.75 mm2 |
| 19 | 0.912 | 0.0359 | 0.653 | 1.288 | 6.5 | 0.75 mm2 |
| 20 | 0.812 | 0.0320 | 0.518 | 1.022 | 5.2 | 0.50 mm2 |
| 21 | 0.723 | 0.0285 | 0.410 | 0.810 | 4.1 | 0.50 mm2 |
| 22 | 0.644 | 0.0253 | 0.326 | 0.642 | 3.3 | 0.50 mm2 |
| 23 | 0.573 | 0.0226 | 0.258 | 0.509 | 2.6 | 0.50 mm2 |
| 24 | 0.511 | 0.0201 | 0.205 | 0.404 | 2.0 | 0.50 mm2 |
| 25 | 0.455 | 0.0179 | 0.162 | 0.320 | 1.6 | 0.50 mm2 |
| 26 | 0.405 | 0.0159 | 0.129 | 0.254 | 1.3 | 0.50 mm2 |
| 27 | 0.361 | 0.0142 | 0.102 | 0.202 | 1.0 | 0.50 mm2 |
| 28 | 0.321 | 0.0126 | 0.081 | 0.160 | 0.8 | 0.50 mm2 |
| 29 | 0.286 | 0.0113 | 0.064 | 0.127 | 0.6 | 0.50 mm2 |
| 30 | 0.255 | 0.0100 | 0.051 | 0.101 | 0.5 | 0.50 mm2 |
How to read it
Find your AWG number in the first column and read across to the area in mm2. The last column gives the nearest size cable is actually sold in, because AWG sizes and metric sizes do not line up exactly: 1/0 AWG is 53.5 mm2, and the cable you buy will be 50 mm2. Waveinverter stocks 2.5 mm2, 10 mm2, 16 mm2, 25 mm2, 35 mm2, 50 mm2 and 95 mm2 cable, ticked in the table.
What does AWG mean on a cable?
It is the American gauge number, and it runs backwards: 4/0 is the biggest common size and 30 AWG is thin signal wire. The aught sizes, written 1/0, 2/0, 3/0 and 4/0 or as 0, 00, 000 and 0000, are the ones above 1 AWG. So anything labelled 0000 or 4/0 is the same cable.
What is 4/0 AWG in mm2?
107.2 mm2. In practice you buy 95 mm2 or 120 mm2, because 107 is not a size anyone makes.
What is 1/0 AWG in mm2?
53.5 mm2, so 50 mm2 cable. This is the most common crossover point for people working from an American spec sheet and need to find the equivalent cable.
What is 2 AWG in mm2?
33.6 mm2, so 35 mm2 cable.
How many amps can each size cable carry?
A reference point industry works to is 10 amps per mm2 of copper at 20°C, which is the maximum column above. That is the heating limit and it is not usually what limits you. On a DC run the voltage drop over the length is the restriction, not the raw current carrying capacity, so a cable that will not overheat can still be far too small for the job.
Work out what your run actually needs with this DC voltage drop calculator. It takes your voltage, current, length and what the cable is feeding, and tells you which size is required.
Why does New Zealand use mm2 and not AWG?
Because the standards here are metric. AS/NZS cable standards, supplier datasheets and every cable sold in this country are specified in mm2. AWG survives on imported gear, and because America! which is why a chart like this gets used at all.
Where the numbers come from
Every figure on this page is calculated, not copied. The gauge definition is
diameter in mm = 0.127 × 92 (36 − n) / 39
where n is the gauge number, and 1/0 is n = 0, 2/0 is −1, 3/0 is −2 and 4/0 is −3. Area, the inch column and kcmil all follow from it. Check any row you like.