The short answer
As of 2026, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest completed building in the world at 828 metres (2,716.5 feet). It has held the title since its opening in January 2010 and shows no sign of being overtaken in the near term. The Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, planned at 1,000 m, has been under construction since 2013 with extended pauses and is not yet structurally topped out.
The top 25 list is concentrated in the Middle East, China, Malaysia, South Korea, and Russia. There are no European or American buildings in the top 10. The Empire State Building, world’s tallest from 1931 to 1972, ranks around 55th today.
This guide gives the current top 25 in both meters and feet, explains how building height is officially measured, and answers the most common questions about iconic structures.
Top 25 tallest buildings as of 2026
Heights are measured to architectural top per the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) standard.
| Rank | Building | City | Height (m) | Height (ft) | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burj Khalifa | Dubai, UAE | 828 | 2,716.5 | 2010 |
| 2 | Merdeka 118 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 678.9 | 2,227.4 | 2023 |
| 3 | Shanghai Tower | Shanghai, China | 632 | 2,073.5 | 2015 |
| 4 | Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower | Mecca, Saudi Arabia | 601 | 1,971.8 | 2012 |
| 5 | Ping An Finance Center | Shenzhen, China | 599.1 | 1,965.6 | 2017 |
| 6 | Lotte World Tower | Seoul, South Korea | 554.5 | 1,818.9 | 2017 |
| 7 | One World Trade Center | New York, USA | 541.3 | 1,776.0 | 2014 |
| 8 | Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre | Guangzhou, China | 530 | 1,738.8 | 2016 |
| 9 | Tianjin CTF Finance Centre | Tianjin, China | 530 | 1,738.8 | 2019 |
| 10 | CITIC Tower (China Zun) | Beijing, China | 528 | 1,732.3 | 2018 |
| 11 | Taipei 101 | Taipei, Taiwan | 508 | 1,667.0 | 2004 |
| 12 | Shanghai World Financial Center | Shanghai, China | 492 | 1,614.2 | 2008 |
| 13 | International Commerce Centre | Hong Kong | 484 | 1,587.9 | 2010 |
| 14 | The Exchange 106 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 482.7 | 1,583.7 | 2019 |
| 15 | Central Park Tower | New York, USA | 472.4 | 1,549.9 | 2020 |
| 16 | Lakhta Center | Saint Petersburg, Russia | 462 | 1,515.8 | 2019 |
| 17 | Vincom Landmark 81 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | 461.2 | 1,513.1 | 2018 |
| 18 | Changsha IFS Tower T1 | Changsha, China | 452.1 | 1,483.3 | 2018 |
| 19 | Petronas Tower 1 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 451.9 | 1,482.6 | 1998 |
| 20 | Petronas Tower 2 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 451.9 | 1,482.6 | 1998 |
| 21 | Zifeng Tower | Nanjing, China | 450 | 1,476.4 | 2010 |
| 22 | The Willis Tower (Sears Tower) | Chicago, USA | 442.1 | 1,450.5 | 1973 |
| 23 | KK100 (Kingkey 100) | Shenzhen, China | 441.8 | 1,449.5 | 2011 |
| 24 | Guangzhou International Finance Center | Guangzhou, China | 438.6 | 1,438.9 | 2010 |
| 25 | 432 Park Avenue | New York, USA | 425.5 | 1,396.0 | 2015 |
The list shifts every year as new buildings top out. The CTBUH maintains the canonical ranking and adjusts when a structure is officially completed.
How height is measured
The CTBUH uses three height definitions, and they often give different numbers for the same building.
Architectural top is the official ranking metric. It includes spires, the main mass of the building, and any architectural element that is integral to the design. It excludes antennas, flagpoles, and signage that is not part of the architectural composition. For the Burj Khalifa, this is 828 m.
Height to tip includes the highest point of the structure regardless of what it is, including antennas, flagpoles, and broadcast masts. For One World Trade Center, the tip height is 541.3 m because the spire is officially part of the architecture. For older buildings like the Willis Tower, the tip height (with broadcast antennas) is 527 m versus 442 m architectural.
Highest occupied floor is the topmost floor where people regularly work or live. It is always below the architectural top, sometimes by a large margin. The Burj Khalifa’s highest occupied floor is the 154th at 584.5 m, more than 240 m below the architectural top. The unoccupied space above is mostly architectural spire, ventilation shafts, and unoccupied service floors.
When you read that a building is “the tallest in the city,” check which definition is being used. A building might lead by tip but lose by architectural top, or vice versa.
How tall buildings compare to natural and human references
To give the numbers context, here are some heights to compare against:
| Reference | Height (m) | Height (ft) |
|---|---|---|
| Average adult human (1.75 m) | 1.75 | 5.7 |
| Typical US story height | 3 | 9.8 |
| Statue of Liberty (pedestal to torch) | 93 | 305 |
| Eiffel Tower | 330 | 1,083 |
| Empire State Building (to tip) | 443 | 1,454 |
| Burj Khalifa | 828 | 2,716 |
| Mount Everest | 8,848 | 29,029 |
| Commercial cruise altitude | 10,973 | 36,000 |
The Burj Khalifa is about 9.5 percent the height of Mount Everest. Cruise altitude is 13 times the Burj Khalifa.
Why the geography shifted
In 1900, the tallest buildings in the world were all in New York and Chicago. By 1930, the Chrysler Building briefly held the title before the Empire State took it. From 1931 to 1972, the title was American. The 1972 completion of the World Trade Center moved it back to New York. From 1996 onward, the title left North America for good: the Petronas Towers (Malaysia), Taipei 101, and finally the Burj Khalifa.
The drivers of this geographic shift are urban density, capital availability, and prestige economics. Building above 400 m is rarely justified by floor-space economics alone. The marginal floor at altitude is more expensive to construct (wind loading, elevator stacking, structural depth), and it rents for similar money to a 100-metre tall floor in the same city. The economic case is therefore mostly about brand value and city image, which is why these projects appear in cities that are actively trying to establish or maintain a global brand: Dubai, Riyadh, Shenzhen, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai.
The next decade is likely to see Jeddah Tower complete (eventually) at 1,000 m, becoming the first building to break the kilometer mark. After that, the projects rumored at 1,500 m or 2,000 m exist mostly as concept renderings without confirmed funding.
Famous buildings outside the top 25
Several famous buildings are not in the top 25 but worth their own row:
| Building | City | Height (m) | Height (ft) | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empire State Building (architectural) | New York, USA | 381 | 1,250 | 1931 |
| Empire State Building (with antenna) | New York, USA | 443 | 1,454 | (1953) |
| Chrysler Building | New York, USA | 319 | 1,046 | 1930 |
| Eiffel Tower | Paris, France | 330 | 1,083 | 1889 |
| The Shard | London, UK | 309.6 | 1,016 | 2012 |
| Bank of America Tower | New York, USA | 366 | 1,200 | 2010 |
| Burj Al Arab (sail-shaped hotel) | Dubai, UAE | 321 | 1,053 | 1999 |
The Empire State Building was the world’s tallest for 41 years (1931 to 1972), the longest reign of any modern skyscraper. Its replacement, the World Trade Center, held the title for 24 years.
Convert any building height
For any building height you read about, the meters-to-feet calculator on the homepage gives the exact conversion. Common landmark heights have dedicated pages: see the 98.48 m page (close to the Statue of Liberty including the torch) or use the calculator for arbitrary values.
For natural landmark heights including mountains, our companion guide Mountain elevation: feet vs meters covers why Everest is reported as 29,029 ft in some sources and 8,849 m in others.
Sources and further reading: