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The World's Tallest Buildings, Explained

Height records for the world's tallest building shift as new supertall towers open, but a few landmark buildings are worth knowing regardless of the current exact ranking.

Burj Khalifa (Dubai, UAE)

Completed in 2010, it has held the title of tallest building in the world for over a decade at more than 800 meters (2,700+ feet), roughly twice the height of the Empire State Building including its antenna. Its design tapers upward in a spiral pattern partly to reduce wind load at extreme height.

Shanghai Tower (Shanghai, China)

One of the tallest buildings in the world at over 600 meters, known for its twisting glass facade, which reduces wind resistance by roughly 24% compared to a straight tower of the same height. It contains one of the world's fastest elevators.

Lotte World Tower (Seoul, South Korea)

At over 550 meters, it is one of the tallest buildings in East Asia and includes an observation deck with a glass floor near the top. Its design was engineered to withstand both earthquakes and the high winds common at that height.

Empire State Building (New York, US)

Completed in 1931, it held the title of tallest building in the world for roughly four decades, longer than any building before or since. At around 380 meters including its antenna, it is no longer among the tallest in the world but remains one of the most recognized skyscrapers ever built.

How "tallest" is actually measured

The organization that maintains official rankings, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, measures architectural height to the tip of a spire but excludes antennas, and separately tracks categories like highest occupied floor. This is why casual height comparisons that include or exclude antennas can produce different-looking rankings for the same buildings.

The record keeps moving because engineering keeps improving

Materials science, wind engineering, and elevator technology have all advanced enough that buildings well over 500 meters are now structurally realistic in ways they were not a few decades ago. As a result, the tallest-building title has shifted from the US, to Malaysia, to Taiwan, to the UAE over the past century, generally following wherever ambitious construction budgets and modern engineering intersected.

A building, a tower, and a structure are not the same category

Height rankings typically split "buildings" (which must have occupiable floors throughout) from "towers" and "structures" like broadcast masts, which can be taller overall but are not fully habitable. A structure like the Tokyo Skytree, for example, is taller than most skyscrapers but is not ranked as a "building" for this reason.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is currently the tallest building in the world?

As of the most recent rankings, the Burj Khalifa remains the tallest completed building, though several supertall projects are under construction that could eventually challenge that. Height rankings change often enough that checking a current source like the CTBUH is more reliable than any fixed number.

Why do some lists include the Tokyo Skytree or CN Tower and others do not?

Those are classified as towers or broadcast structures rather than buildings, since they lack occupiable floors throughout their height, so lists specifically ranking "tallest buildings" exclude them even though they are taller than many buildings on the list.