List of tallest buildings

This list of tallest buildings includes skyscrapers with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least . Non-building structures, such as towers, are not included in this list (see list of tallest buildings and structures).

Historically, the world's tallest man-made structure was the ancient tomb - the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, which held the position for over 3,800 years until the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in England in 1311. Until the completion of the Washington Monument in 1884 the world's tallest buildings were Christian churches and cathedrals in Europe. The early skyscraper was pioneered in Chicago with the  Home Insurance Building in 1885, forming the basis for which the United States would hold the position of the world's tallest building throughout the 20th century until 1998, when the Petronas Towers were completed. Since then only two buildings have held the title: Taipei 101 in 2004 and Burj Khalifa in 2010.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the US, the Middle East, China, and Southeast Asia have experienced booms in skyscraper construction.

 Ranking criteria and alternatives 
The international non-profit organization Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) was formed in 1969 and announces the title of "The World's Tallest Building" and sets the standards by which buildings are measured. It maintains a list of the 100 tallest completed buildings in the world. The organization currently ranks Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the tallest at . However, the CTBUH only recognizes buildings that are complete, and some buildings included within the lists in this article are not considered finished by the CTBUH.

In 1996, as a response to the dispute as to whether the Petronas Towers or the Sears Tower was taller, the council listed and ranked buildings in four categories:
 height to structural or architectural top;
 height to floor of highest occupied floor;
 height to top of roof (removed as category in November 2009); and
 height to top of any part of the building.

Spires are considered integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, changes to which would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Towers, with their spires, are thus ranked higher than the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) with its antennas, despite the Petronas Towers's lower roofs and lower highest point.

Until 1996, the world's tallest building was defined by the height to the top of the tallest architectural element, including spires but not antennae. This led to a rivalry between the Bank of Manhattan Building and the Chrysler Building. The Bank of Manhattan Building (i.e. 40 Wall Street) employed only a short spire and was  tall and had a much higher top occupied floor (the second category in the 1996 criteria for tallest building). In contrast, the Chrysler Building employed a very large  spire secretly assembled inside the building to claim the title of world's tallest building with a total height of , although it had a lower top occupied floor and a shorter height when both buildings' spires were excluded.

Upset by Chrysler's victory, Shreve & Lamb, the consulting architects of the Bank of Manhattan Building, wrote a newspaper article claiming that their building was actually the tallest, since it contained the world's highest usable floor, at . They pointed out that the observation deck in the Bank of Manhattan Building was nearly  above the top floor in the Chrysler Building, whose surpassing spire was strictly ornamental and inaccessible.

At present, the Burj Khalifa tops the list by some margin, regardless of which criterion is applied.

 Tallest buildings in the world 

, this list includes all 75 buildings (completed and architecturally topped out) which reach a height of  or more, as assessed by their highest architectural feature. Of these, 37 are in China. Six of the last seven buildings to have held the record as 'tallest building' are still found in the list, with the exception being the North Tower of the original World Trade Center at  after its destruction in the September 11 attacks of 2001. If the twin towers had not been destroyed and One World Trade Center never built, the WTC towers would rank 34 and 35 on the list today.

 bold Denotes building that is or was once the tallest in the world
RankNameImageCityCountryHeightFloorsYearNotesmft1Burj Khalifa Dubai8282,71716320102Shanghai Towerframeless|100pxShanghai6322,0731282015The tallest twisted building.3Abraj Al-Bait Clock TowerMecca6011,9711202012Tallest building with a clock face.4Ping An Finance Centerframeless|100pxShenzhen 5991,9651152017Shares the record of the highest observation deck with Shanghai Tower (#2) at 562 m.5Lotte World Tower Seoul554.51,81912320176One World Trade Centerframeless|100pxNew York City541.31,77610420147Guangzhou CTF Finance Centerframeless|100pxGuangzhou5301,73911120168Tianjin CTF Finance Centerframeless|100px Tianjin5301,7399820199China Zunframeless|100pxBeijing5281,73210810Taipei 101frameless|100pxTaipei5081,6671012004The world's tallest building from 2004 to 2010.11Shanghai World Financial Centerframeless|100pxShanghai4921,6141012008Was the tallest building in China until the completion of the adjacent Shanghai Tower.12International Commerce Centreframeless|100pxHong Kong4841,588118201013Central Park Towerframeless|100pxNew York City4721,550982020Tallest residential building in the world. Topped out in September 2019.14Lakhta Centerframeless|100pxSaint Petersburg4621,516862019Tallest building in Europe since 2018.15Landmark 81frameless|100pxHo Chi Minh City461.21,51381201816Changsha IFS Tower T1frameless|100pxChangsha452.11,48388201817Petronas Tower 1frameless|100pxKuala Lumpur451.91,483881998Tallest twin towers in the world; were the world's tallest buildings upon completion in 1998, and the first tallest building since 1908 outside of the United States.Petronas Tower 2 19Zifeng Towerframeless|100pxNanjing4501,476892010Suzhou IFSframeless|100pxSuzhou92201921The Exchange 106frameless|100pxKuala Lumpur445.11,46097201922Willis Towerframeless|100pxChicago442.11,4501081974Formerly known, and still commonly referred to, as the Sears Tower. It was the tallest building in the world from 1974 until 1998.23KK100frameless|100pxShenzhen4421,449100201124Guangzhou International Finance Centerframeless|100pxGuangzhou4401,440103201025Wuhan Centerframeless|100pxWuhan4381,43788201926 111 West 57th Street frameless|100px New York City 435.3 1,428 84 202127One Vanderbiltframeless|100px4271,401582020 28 Dongguan International Trade Center 1 frameless|100px Dongguan 426.9 1,401 88 202029432 Park Avenueframeless|100pxNew York City425.51,396882015Third-tallest residential building in the world.[10]30Marina 101Dubai4251,394101201731Trump International Hotel and Towerframeless|100pxChicago423.21,38898200932Jin Mao Towerframeless|100pxShanghai4211,38088199933Princess TowerDubai4141,358101201234Al Hamra TowerKuwait City412.61,35480201135International Finance Centreframeless|100pxHong Kong4121,35288200336Haeundae LCT The Sharp Landmark Towerframeless|100pxBusan411.61,352101201937 Nanning China Resources TowerNanning402.71,321852020 39 Guiyang Financial Center Tower 1 Guiyang 401 1,316 79 2020 39China Resources Headquartersframeless|100pxShenzhen392.51,2886720184023 MarinaDubai392.41,28789201241CITIC Plazaframeless|100pxGuangzhou390.21,28080199642Shum Yip Upperhills Tower 1Shenzhen388.11,2738020204330 Hudson Yardsframeless|100pxNew York City386.61,26873201844Capital Market Authority HeadquartersRiyadh3851,26377202045Shun Hing Squareframeless|100pxShenzhen3841,26069199646Eton Place Dalian Tower 1frameless|100pxDalian3831,25781201547Logan Century Center 1Nanning381.31,25182201848Burj Mohammed bin RashidAbu Dhabi381.21,25188201449Empire State Buildingframeless|100pxNew York City3811,2501021931Tallest building in the world from 1931 until 1972; tallest man-made structure in the world from 1931 to 1967; first building in the world to contain over 100 floors[17][18]50 Elite ResidenceDubai380.51,248872012 51 Shenzhen Center Shenzhen  375.6 1,23280 202052Central Plazaframeless|100pxHong Kong373.91,22678199253Federation Tower (East Tower)frameless|100pxMoscow373.71,22695201654Dalian International Trade CenterDalian370.21,21486201955Address Boulevardframeless|100pxDubai3701,21472201756Haitian Center Tower 2  Qingdao  369 1,211 72 202057Golden Eagle Tiandi Tower ANanjing368.11,20876201858Bank of China Towerframeless|100pxHong Kong3671,20570199059Bank of America Towerframeless|100pxNew York City365.81,20056200960Vista Tower Chicago362.91,191101202061Almas Towerframeless|100pxDubai3601,18168200962Hanking CenterShenzhen358.91,17765201763 Greenland Group Suzhou CenterSuzhou3581,17577202164Gevora HotelDubai356.31,16975201265JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Tower 11,16682JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Tower 235567Emirates Office Towerframeless|100px354.61,16354200068Raffles City Chongqing T3Nframeless|100pxChongqing354.5792018Raffles City Chongqing T4N201970OKO Tower - South Towerframeless|100pxMoscow3541,16085201571The Marina TorchDubai3521,15586201172Forum 66 Tower 1frameless|100pxShenyang350.61,15068201573The Pinnacleframeless|100pxGuangzhou350.31,14960201274 Xi An Glory International Financial CenterXi'an3501,148752020

 Alternative measurements 

 Height to pinnacle (highest point) 
This measurement disregards distinctions between architectural and non-architectural extensions, and simply measures to the highest point. This measurement is useful for air traffic obstacle determinations, and is also a wholly objective measure. However, this measurement includes extensions that are easily added, removed, and modified from a building and are independent of the overall structure.

This measurement only recently came into use, when the Petronas Towers passed the Sears Tower (now named Willis Tower) in height. The former was considered taller because its spires were considered architectural, while the latter's antennae were not. This led to the split of definitions, with the Sears Tower claiming the lead in this and the height-to-roof (now highest occupied floor) categories, and with the Petronas claiming the lead in the architectural height category.

If the World Trade Center towers were still standing today they would occupy numbers 12 (North Tower at ) and 37 on the list (or 11 and 36, for it can be assumed the One World Trade Center would have never been built).

†Denotes building with pinnacle height higher than architectural

 Height to occupied floor 
This height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest occupied floor within the building.

 Buildings under construction 
This is a list of buildings taller than  that are currently under construction. On-hold buildings whose construction was interrupted after it had reached a significantly advanced state are also listed.

 Building Planned architectural height Floors Planned completion Country City Ref.Jeddah Tower167+2023JeddahMerdeka 1181182023Kuala Lumpur Goldin Finance 117 128 2022 TianjinSuzhou Zhongnan Center  103  2025 Suzhou Greenland Centre1012024Xi'an Greenland Jinmao International Financial Center1042025Nanjing Wuhan CTF Centre   84  2026  WuhanChengdu Greenland Tower1162021ChengduCorporate Avenue 1992022Chongqing Tianshan Gate of the World 106 2025Shijiazhuang Tianjin R&F Guangdong Tower91unknownTianjinMarina 1061042024Dubai World One117 ? Mumbai Riverview Plaza732021WuhanChongqing Tall Tower    101  2023 Chongqing Shandong IFC86Jinan  Nanjing Financial City Tower 1 87  ? NanjingNingbo Center Tower 1    80  2023 Ningbo  Dongfeng Plaza Landmark Tower    100  2022 Kunming  One Tower   101  2024 MoscowEvergrande Center   71  2024  ShenzhenChengmai Center   70  2022   Shenzhen Iconic Tower   90  2023    Cairo  Guiyang World Trade Center Landmark Tower ? 2021 Guiyang  Guangdong Business Center    60  2022 Guangzhou  Fairmont Kuala Lumpur Tower 178 2022  Kuala Lumpur  Coronation Square Tower 178 ? Johor Bahru  Xujiahui Center Tower 170 2023  Shanghai  Uptown Tower   78  2022    Dubai  Galaxy 1 84  Shenzhen  Galaxy 2 Shenzhen   Ciel Tower    77  2023   Dubai  Three Sixty West Tower B 90 2021 Mumbai Ping An Finance Center Tower 1742023 Jinan  Huiyun Center   80  2022   Shenzhen Greenland Group Suzhou Center 752021 Suzhou  Il Primo Tower 1    88  2021    Dubai  Agricultural Development Center Tower 1   ?  ?    Harbin  

 List by continent 
The following list shows the tallest completed buildings in each continent listed by greatest to least height (click on name of continent for continent-specific list):

 Continent Building Height Floor count Completed Country CityAsiaBurj Khalifa1632010DubaiNorth AmericaOne World Trade Center1042014New York CityEurope Lakhta Center  862018St. PetersburgAustraliaQ1782005Gold CoastSouth AmericaGran Torre Santiago642012SantiagoAfricaThe Leonardo552019JohannesburgAntarcticaLong Duration Balloon (LDB) Payload Preparation Buildings—2005Jones, W. Vernon. "Report on the Balloon Program" , NASA Astrophysics Subcommittee Meeting. 16 April 2013.McMurdo Station

Notes

References

Other websites

 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
 Emporis, international database and gallery of buildings
 Structurae, international database and gallery of structures
 BuildingHeights.org , alternative ranking of the world's 1000 tallest buildings


*