List of tallest buildings

This is a list of the tallest buildings. Tall buildings, such as skyscrapers, are special structures with many floors where people can live or work. To be on this list, a building must be at least 350 metres (1,148 feet) tall. That means it would take a long time to walk to the top!

These amazing buildings are found around the world. Some of the tallest ones are in big cities like Dubai and Shanghai. Engineers and architects design them to be strong and safe, even in bad weather or earthquakes.

Buildings this tall help cities grow because they can hold many people and offices in one place. They also become famous landmarks that people visit from all over the world. If you look up at the sky in a big city, you might see one of these incredible tall buildings reaching up into the clouds!

History

Main article: History of the world's tallest buildings

The tallest building in the world has changed many times. The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt was the tallest for over 3,800 years until Lincoln Cathedral was built in 1311. After that, the Strasbourg Cathedral in France became the tallest until 1874.

The first building called a skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago in 1885. For much of the 20th century, the tallest buildings were in the United States. In 1998, the Petronas Towers became the tallest. This was followed by Taipei 101 in 2004 and then Burj Khalifa in 2009. Today, many tall buildings are in the Middle East, China, and Southeast Asia.

Ranking criteria and alternatives

The Council on Vertical Urbanism (CVU) decides which building is the tallest in the world. They made rules to measure buildings fairly and keep a list of the tallest 100 finished buildings. Right now, the tallest building is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, standing at 828 meters.

Before 1996, people argued about what counts as the tallest part of a building. Some counted spires, special tall parts of a building’s design, while others counted antennas, which can be added or removed. Because of these arguments, the CVU started using four ways to measure buildings. This helps everyone agree on which building is the tallest!

Tallest buildings in the world

As of 2026, there are 98 buildings around the world that are at least 350 metres (1,150 feet) tall. These buildings are finished or almost finished.

Many of these tall buildings are in China. Some buildings that were once the tallest in the world are still on this list. One of these buildings in New York was destroyed in 2001. If that building had not been destroyed and One World Trade Center had not been built, it would not be on today’s list.

Alternative measurements

This section explains different ways to measure the height of tall buildings. One way is to measure to the highest point, which helps for air traffic safety. Another way is to measure to the highest floor people can use inside the building.

There's also a way to measure to the roof, but this isn't used as much anymore because most tall buildings don't have a clear "roof" area people can use. These different measurements help us understand which buildings are the tallest in various ways.

Main article: List of tallest buildings by height to roof

Buildings under construction

This section lists buildings taller than 350 metres (about 1,148 feet) that are being built. These buildings have many floors where people can live or work. There is also a separate list for buildings that were mostly built but paused, known as "on hold" buildings.

List by continent

The following list shows the tallest finished buildings on each continent, ordered from the tallest to the shortest. You can click on the name of each continent to see a list just for that part of the world. This helps us learn how buildings differ in different places on Earth.

Countries with most buildings on list

This list shows which countries have the most buildings on the list of the world's tallest buildings. The countries are listed from those with the most buildings to those with the fewest.

The table below shows these countries and how many of their buildings are among the tallest in the world.