What is the tallest building in the world? What about the top 20?

Here we answer these common questions, and more, on some of the tallest things mankind has ever been able to erect.

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What are the top 20 tallest buildings in the world?

According to sites like Wikipedia, the 20 tallest buildings in the world are as follows: –

Rank	Name	Country	Height (m)	FLoors	Year of completion	Notes
1	Burj Khalifa	United Arab Emirates	829	163	2010	Currently the tallest building and the tallest structure in the world from 2010 onwards; tallest building completed in the 2010s.
2	Shanghai Tower	China	632	128	2015	It is the tallest building in China and in East Asia; tallest twisted building.
3	Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower	Saudi Arabia	601	120	2012	Tallest building with a clock face; second-tallest in the Middle East and tallest in Saudi Arabia.
4	Ping An Finance Center	China	599	115	2017	The tallest building in Shenzhen and Guangdong Province. Shares the record of the highest observation deck with Shanghai Tower (#2) at 562 m.
5	Goldin Finance 117	China	596.6	128	2019	The tallest building in China outside of Shanghai and Guangdong province.
6	Lotte World Tower	South Korea	554.5	123	2016	The tallest building in South Korea and in Asia outside of China and the Middle East. The tallest building in a nation’s capital and in an OECD country.
7	One World Trade Center	United States	541.3	104	2014	The tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the United States, and North America. Briefly referred to as the Freedom Tower during its planning stages. Tallest building outside of Asia.
8	Guangzhou CTF Finance Center	China	530	111	2016	The tallest building in Guangzhou and second tallest in Guangdong province.
9	Tianjin CTF Finance Center	China	530	98	2018
10	China Zun	China	528	108	2018	Will become Beijing’s tallest building upon completion.
11	Taipei 101	Taiwan	508	101	2004	The world’s tallest building from 2004 to 2010.
12	Shanghai World Finance Center	China	492	101	2008	Was the tallest building in China until the completion of the adjacent Shanghai Tower.
13	International Commerce Centre	China	484	118	2010	The tallest building in Hong Kong.
14	Lakhta Center[14]	Russia	462	86	2018	The tallest building in Russia and in Europe.
15	Landmark 81	Vietnam	461.2	81	2018	The tallest building in Vietnam and in Southeast Asia.
16	Changsha IFS Tower T1	China	452.1	88	2017	The tallest building in Changsha.
17	Petronas Tower 1	Malaysia	451.9	88	1998	Tallest twin towers in the world; were the world’s tallest buildings upon completion in 1998, and the first building since 1908 outside of the United States.
17	Petronas Tower 2	Malaysia	451.9	88	1998	Tallest twin towers in the world; were the world’s tallest buildings upon completion in 1998, and the first building since 1908 outside of the United States.
17	Exchange 106	Malaysia	451.9	97	2018	Will be the tallest building in Kuala Lumpur along with the Petronas Towers upon completion.
20	Zifeng Tower	China	450	89	2010	The tallest building in Nanjing.
20	Suzhou IFS	China	450	92	2017	The tallest building in Suzhou.

What’s the tallest structure in the world?

To date, the tallest man-made structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates. This impressive construction has a total height of 829 meters (inc. antenna).

It was completed in 2010 and is a mixed-use skyscraper housing carious offices, a hotel, and private residential spaces. Construction began in 2004 and the main external structure was completed in 2009.

“Burj Khalifa was designed by Adrian Smith, of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, whose firm designed the Willis Tower and One World Trade Center. Hyder Consulting was chosen to be the supervising engineer with NORR Group Consultants International Limited chosen to supervise the architecture of the project.” – Wikipedia.

Where does the Shard rank as one of the tallest buildings?

The Shard, AKA The Shard of Glass or Shard London Bridge, is the tallest building in the United Kingdom. It was designed by Renzo Piano as has a total height of just over 310 meters (305 main structure).

Because of its total height, the Shard is also the fifth tallest building in Europe. Construction began in 2009 and it was officially opened for business in 2012.

Although very tall indeed, the Shard doesn’t rank in the top 20 tallest building in the world. But it is slightly taller than the famous Eiffel Tower that stands at a total height of 300 meters.

 

What will be the tallest building in 2020?

To date, as of 2020, the Burj Khalifa will retain its title as the tallest building in the world. But there is another tall tower currently under construction that is set to dwarf it.

Called the Jeddah Tower, this incredible building is planned to reach around 1 km in height when (if) completed in 2021. However, it is important to note that construction was stalled in 2018 due to geological issues with the construction site.

The 5 tallest buildings of the future

Here are the top five tallest buildings currently planned or under construction.

1. Jeddah Tower will dwarf Burj Khalifa once finished

As we have previously mentioned, Jeddah Tower is set to dwarf the Burj Khalifa once completed. Current estimates are for its completion in 2021, but the project is currently in hiatus for technical reasons.

2. PNB 118 should be finished by 2024

PNB 118 is a planned 644 meters tall, 118-floor tower that is currently under construction in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Once completed it will become the 2nd (3rd of Jeddah Tower is completed) tallest building in the world.

3. Evergrande IFC 1 should be completed by 2021

Evergrande IFC1 is currently under construction in Hefei, China and is set to be completed in 2021. It is planned to reach a final height of 518 meters and will consist of 112 floors in total.

It was designed by Gensler, and construction commenced in 2016.

4. The Greenland Centre in China has just been started

Greenland Centre is currently under construction in Xi’an, China. It is designed to reach 501 meters tall, when complete, and will run over 106 floors.

Construction began in 2019 and there is currently no known estimated completion date.

5. Work on the Wuhan Greenland Center has also stalled

Wuhan Greenland Center is currently under construction in Wuhan, China. Work started in 2012 but has been stalled since 2016. When, if ever, completed it will have a total height of 476 meters.