World's Largest Buildings — The Ten Largest Skyscrapers on Earth—Ranked by official architectural height

Top 10

#1 Burj Khalifa #2 Merdeka 118 #3 Shanghai Tower #4 Makkah Royal Clock Tower #5 Ping An Finance Center #6 Lotte World Tower #7 One World Trade Center #8 Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre #9 Tianjin CTF Finance Centre #10 CITIC Tower

Man-Made & Megatall

The Ten Largest Skyscrapers
on Earth

From a desert tower that doubled the height of anything built before it, to a twisting glass spire in Shanghai — these are the ten tallest occupied buildings humans have ever raised, ranked by official architectural height.

See the Full Ranking ↓

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

The Podium

The Top 3, Up Close

Swipe through the three towers that broke records when they opened.

#1

Burj Khalifa

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

828mHeight

163Floors

2010Opened

#2

Merdeka 118

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

679mHeight

118Floors

2023Opened

#3

Shanghai Tower

Shanghai, China

632mHeight

128Floors

2015Opened

Counted Down, 10 → 1

The Complete Ranking

1

Burj Khalifa

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Held the title of world's tallest building since it opened in 2010, and remains nearly 500 feet clear of its closest rival. Its Y-shaped plan, inspired by a desert flower, was engineered specifically to reduce wind load as the tower climbs.

828 m / 2,717 ft

Floors163

Completed2010

Primary useMixed-use: residences, hotel, offices, observation decks

2

Merdeka 118

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Southeast Asia's tallest structure, its diamond-faceted glass crown and 118 floors commemorate the year of Malaysian independence. It overtook Shanghai Tower to claim second place on completion.

679 m / 2,227 ft

Floors118

Completed2023

Primary useMixed-use: offices, hotel, observation deck

3

Shanghai Tower

Shanghai, China

A 120-degree twisting form, refined through extensive wind-tunnel testing, cuts wind loads on the structure by roughly a quarter compared to a non-twisting tower of the same height.

632 m / 2,073 ft

Floors128

Completed2015

Primary useMixed-use: offices, hotel, retail, observation deck

4

Makkah Royal Clock Tower

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Anchored beside the Grand Mosque, its four giant clock faces are visible for miles and make it the centrepiece of one of the largest hotel and pilgrim complexes ever built.

601 m / 1,972 ft

Floors120

Completed2012

Primary useHotel and religious complex

5

Ping An Finance Center

Shenzhen, China

A slender stainless-steel-clad profile that became shorthand for Shenzhen's rapid rise as a financial and technology hub, built in well under a decade from groundbreaking to opening.

599 m / 1,966 ft

Floors115

Completed2017

Primary useOffices and retail

6

Lotte World Tower

Seoul, South Korea

South Korea's tallest building and a dominant feature of the Seoul skyline, combining a five-storey retail base with a tapering glass tower above.

555 m / 1,819 ft

Floors123

Completed2017

Primary useMixed-use: offices, residences, hotel, retail, observation deck

7

One World Trade Center

New York City, USA

The tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, rebuilt on the site of the original World Trade Center. Its height in feet, 1,776, deliberately echoes the year of American independence.

541 m / 1,776 ft

Floors94

Completed2014

Primary useOffices and observation deck

8

Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre

Guangzhou, China

Home to some of the fastest elevators ever installed in a building, capable of carrying passengers from ground level to the upper floors in under a minute.

530 m / 1,739 ft

Floors111

Completed2016

Primary useMixed-use: offices, hotel, residences

9

Tianjin CTF Finance Centre

Tianjin, China

A near-twin in height to its Guangzhou sibling, its tapering aerodynamic form was shaped to perform well in Tianjin's coastal wind conditions.

530 m / 1,739 ft

Floors97

Completed2019

Primary useMixed-use: offices, residences, hotel

10

CITIC Tower (China Zun)

Beijing, China

Nicknamed "China Zun" after a traditional ceremonial wine vessel it resembles, its waisted silhouette is Beijing's tallest completed building and the anchor of the capital's CBD skyline.

528 m / 1,732 ft

Floors109

Completed2018

Primary useOffices

Side by Side

How They Stack Up

Every bar is scaled against the Burj Khalifa.

#1 Burj Khalifa

828 m2,717 ft

#2 Merdeka 118

679 m2,227 ft

#3 Shanghai Tower

632 m2,073 ft

#4 Makkah Royal Clock Tower

601 m1,972 ft

#5 Ping An Finance Center

599 m1,966 ft

#6 Lotte World Tower

555 m1,819 ft

#7 One World Trade Center

541 m1,776 ft

#8 Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre

530 m1,739 ft

#9 Tianjin CTF Finance Centre

530 m1,739 ft

#10 CITIC Tower

528 m1,732 ft