Yao Defen, world’s tallest woman, dies aged 40. By Guinness World Records News. Published 05 December 2012. China's Yao Defen, the world's tallest woman as verified by Guinness World Records, has died at the age of 40. Yao, who measured 233.3 cm (7 ft 7 in) when last documented, is reported to have passed away in the house she shared with her mother in a small village in China's central Anhui Province.