World tallest buildings and structures

Currently the world's tallest man-made structure is the 829.8 m (2,722 ft) tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The building gained the official title of "Tallest Building in the World" at its opening on January 4, 2010.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, an organization that certifies buildings as the "World’s Tallest", recognizes a building only if at least fifty percent of its height is made up of floor plates containing habitable floor area. Structures that do not meet this criterion, such as the CN Tower, are defined as "towers".

There are dozens of radio and television broadcasting towers which measure over 600 metres (about 2,000 ft) in height, and only the tallest are recorded in publicly available information sources.

When assessing the placings of structures, there is some debate about:

• whether a building is actually a building
• whether a structure under construction should be included in the list
• whether a building or structure has to be officially opened before it is included on the list.
• whether structures rising out of water should have their below-water height included.
• what should be counted as a building or a tower, and what is being measured.
• for towers, whether guy-wire-supported structures should be counted.

For buildings, there is debate over:

• whether only habitable height is considered
• whether communication towers with observation galleries should be considered "habitable" in this sense
• whether rooftop antennas, viewing platforms or any other architecture that does not form floors, walls and rooms, i.e. not built as an occupiable room, should be considered towards height of building
• what would stop a room built on top of a telecommunications or viewing tower from changing the tower's class to that of "building"
• why a building that is not officially opened should be excluded from the ranks of tallest buildings
• what counts as an official opening

Tallest man-made structures sorted out by category

This category does not require the structure be "officially" opened.

The tallest man-made structure is Burj Khalifa, a skyscraper in Dubai that reached 829.8 m (2,722 ft) in height on January 17, 2009. By April 7, 2008 it had been built higher than the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, USA. That September it officially surpassed Poland's 646.38 m (2,120.7 ft) Warsaw radio mast, which stood from 1974 to 1991, to become the tallest structure ever built. Guyed lattice towers such as these masts had held the world height record since 1954.

The CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, standing at 553.3 m (1,815 ft), was formerly the world's tallest completed freestanding structure on land. Opened in 1976, it was surpassed in height by the rising Burj Khalifa on September 12, 2007. It has the world's highest public observation deck at 446.5 m (1,465 ft).

The Petronius Platform stands 610 m (2,000 ft) off the sea floor leading some, including Guinness World Records 2007, to claim it as the tallest freestanding structure in the world. However, it is debated whether underwater height should be counted in the same manner as height below ground is ignored on buildings. The Troll A platform is 472 m (1,549 ft), without any part of that height being supported by wires. The tension-leg type of oil platform has even greater below-water heights with several examples more than 1,000 m (3,300 ft) deep. However, these platforms are not considered constant structures as the vast majority of their height is made up of the length of the tendons attaching the floating platforms to the sea floor. Despite this, Guinness World Records 2009 listed the Ursa tension leg platform as the tallest structure in the world with a total height of 1,306 m (4,285 ft). The Magnolia Tension-leg Platform in the Gulf of Mexico is even taller with a total height of 1,432 m (4,698 ft).

Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, set records in three of the four skyscraper categories at the time it opened in 2004; at the time the Burj Khalifa opened in 2010 it remained the world's tallest inhabited building 509.2 m (1,671 ft) as measured to its architectural height (spire). The height of its roof 449.2 m (1,474 ft) and highest occupied floor 439.2 m (1,441 ft) had been surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center with corresponding heights of 487 m (1,598 ft) and 474 m (1,555 ft) respectively. Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) was highest in the final category: the greatest height to top of antenna of any building in the world at 527.3 m (1,730 ft).

Burj Khalifa broke the height record in all four categories for completed buildings by a wide margin.

Due to the disagreements over how to measure height and classify structures, engineers have created various definitions for categories of buildings and other structures. One measure includes the absolute height of a building, another includes only spires and other permanent architectural features, but not antennas. The tradition of including the spire on top of a building and not including the antenna dates back to the rivalry between the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street. A modern-day example is that the antenna on top of Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) is not considered part of its architectural height, while the spires on top of the Petronas Twin Towers are counted.

Note: The following table is a list of the tallest structure in each of the categories below. There can only be one structure in each category, unless the title for the tallest is a draw.

Category	Structure	Country	City	Height (metres)	Height (feet)	Year Built	Coordinates
Skyscraper	Burj Khalifa	United Arab Emirates	Dubai	829.8	2,722	2010	25°11′50.0″N 55°16′26.6″E
Self supporting tower	Tokyo Sky Tree	Japan	Tokyo	634	2,080	2011	35°42′36.5″N 139°48′39″E
Guyed Mast	KVLY-TV mast	United States	Blanchard	628.8	2,063	1963	47°20′31.85″N 97°17′21.13″W
Clock building	Abraj Al Bait Towers	Saudi Arabia	Mecca	601	1,972	2011	21°25′08″N 39°49′35″E
Mast radiator	Lualualei VLF transmitter	United States	Lualualei	458	1,503	1962	21°25′11.87″N 158°08′53.67″W ; 21°25′13.38″N 158°09′14.35″W
Twin towers	Petronas Twin Towers	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	452	1,482	1998	3°09′27.45″N 101°42′40.7″E; 3°09′29.45″N 101°42′43.4″E
Chimney	Ekibastuz GRES-2 Power Station	Kazakhstan	Ekibastusz	419.7	1,377	1987	52°1′26.3″N 75°28′34.5″E
Radar	Dimona Radar Facility	Israel	Dimona	400	1,312	2008	30°58′6.93″N 35°05′49.64″E ; 30°58′32.46″N 35°05′55.25″E
Lattice tower	Kiev TV Tower	Ukraine	Kiev	385	1,263	1973	50°28′16.49″N 30°27′11.97″E
Electricity pylon	Zhoushan Island Overhead Powerline Tie	China	Zhoushan	370	1,214	2009	29°56′2.78″N 122°2′10.12″E ; 29°54′41.39″N 122°1′26.38″E
Partially guyed tower	Gerbrandy Tower	Netherlands	IJsselstein	366.8	1,203	1961	52°00′36.24″N 05°03′12.87″E
Guyed tubular steel mast	TV Tower Vinnytsia	Ukraine	Vinnytsia	354	1,161	1961	49°14′30.04″N 28°25′25.25″E
Bridge pillar	Millau Viaduct	France	Millau	342	1,122	2004	44°05′09.97″N 03°01′17.94″E
Tower for scientific research	Obninsk Meteorological tower	Russia	Obninsk	315	1,034	1958	55°06′41.72″N 36°35′53.75″E
Blaw-Knox Tower	Lakihegy Tower	Hungary	Szigetszentmiklós-Lakihegy	314	1,031	1968	47°22′23″N 19°00′16″E
Dam	Jinping-I Dam	China	Liangshan	305	1,001	2013	28°11′07″N 101°37′42″E
Minaret	Hassan II Mosque	Morocco	Casablanca	210	689	1993	33°36′28.71″N 7°37′58.16″W
Wind turbine	Nowy Tomyśl Wind Turbines[7]	Poland	Nowy Tomyśl	210	689	2012	52°17′39″N 16°09′00″E ; 52°17′41″N 16°09′22″E
Cooling tower	Kalisindh Power Station	India	Kalisindh	202[8]	663	2012	24°32′04.34″N 76°05′58.09″E
Monument	Gateway Arch	United States	St. Louis	192	630	1965	38°37′28.62″N 90°11′5.87″W
Water tower	Main tower of Kuwait Towers	Kuwait	Kuwait City	187	614	1979	29°23′22.75″N 48°00′11.57″E
Wooden structure	ATLAS-I at Kirtland Air Force Base	United States	Albuquerque	180	600	1980	35.029898°N 106.557574°W
Masonry tower	Anaconda Smelter Stack	United States	Anaconda	178.3	585	1919	46°06′36.53″N 112°54′48.8″W
Inclined structure, Stadium	Olympic Stadium	Canada	Montreal	175	574	1976	45°33′33.53″N 73°33′7.61″W
Obelisk	San Jacinto Monument	United States	La Porte	173.7	570	1939	29°44′59.46″N 95°04′50.52″W
Church building	Chicago Temple Building	United States	Chicago	173	568	1924	41°52′58.81″N 87°37′50.25″W
Masonry building	Mole Antonelliana	Italy	Torino	167	548	1889	45°04′8.45″N 7°41′35.62″E
Masonry building	Philadelphia City Hall	United States	Philadelphia	167	548	1901	39°57′9.79″N 75°09′48.72″W
Ferris wheel	Singapore Flyer	Singapore	Singapore	165	541.3	2008	1°17′22.27″N 103°51′47.6″E
Flagpole, free-standing	Dushanbe Flagpole	Tajikistan	Dushanbe	165[9]	541	2011	38°34′44.44″N 68°46′48.39″E
Church tower	Ulm Minster	Germany	Ulm	162	530	1890	48°23′55″N 9°59′30.78″E
Industrial hall	Vehicle Assembly Building	United States	Kennedy Space Center	160	525	1966	28°35′9.64″N 80°39′2.11″W
Dome	Dome of the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro	Côte d'Ivoire	Yamoussoukro	158	518	1990	6°48′40″N 5°17′47″W
Memorial cross	Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos	Spain	El Escorial	152.4	500	1957	40°38′31.46″N 4°9′19.6″W
Telescope	Arecibo Telescope	United States	Arecibo	150	492	1963	18°20′39″N 66°45′10″W
Roller coaster	Kingda Ka	United States	Jackson	138.98	456	2005	40°08′26.54″N 74°25′59.83″W
Tomb	Great Pyramid of Giza	Egypt	Giza	138.8	455.2	2560 BC	29°58′44.93″N 31°08′3.09″E
Lighthouse	Jeddah Light	Saudi Arabia	Jeddah	133	436	1990[10]	21°28′07.14″N 39°08′58.98″E
Air traffic control tower	Suvarnabhumi Airport control tower	Thailand	Bangkok	132.2	433.7	2006	13°41′47.05″N 100°44′58.8″E
Statue (including pedestal)	Spring Temple Buddha	China	Lushan	128	420	2002	33.775150°N 112.451016°E
Stupa	Phra Pathom Chedi	Thailand	Nakorn Pathom	127	417	1870	13°49′11″N 100°3′37″E
Sculpture	Spire of Dublin	Ireland	Dublin	121.2	393	2003	53°20′59.28″N 6°15′36.93″W
Storage silo	Henninger Turm	Germany	Frankfurt	120	394	1961	50°05′50.18″N 8°41′36.81″E
Wooden lattice tower	Gliwice Radio Tower	Poland	Gliwice	118	387	1935	50°18′48.12″N 18°41′20.26″E
Aerial tramway support tower	Pillar of third section of Gletscherbahn Kaprun	Austria	Kaprun	113.6	373	1966	47°11′58.62″N 12°41′16.96″E
Sphere	Ericsson Globe	Sweden	Stockholm	85	279	1989	59°17′36.92″N 18°04′58.79″E
Brick lighthouse	Lighthouse of Genoa	Italy	Genoa	77	253	1128	44°24′16.25″N 8°54′16.67″E
Gopuram	Murudeshwara Temple	India	Murudeshwara	76	249	2008	14.094197°N 74.485163°E
Wooden church	Church of the Holy Archangels[11]	Romania	Şurdeşti	72	236	1766	47°35′49.11″N 23°45′52.54″E

Tallest buildings sorted out by category

Prior to 1998, the tallest building status was determined by the height of the building to the top of its architectural elements including spires, but not including "temporary" structures (such as antennae or flagpoles), which could be added or changed relatively easily without requiring major changes to the building's design. Other criteria for height measurement were not used. For this reason, the originally 1451 foot (442.1 meter) to rooftop or 1518 feet with original antennas Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) was generally accepted as being the tallest building continuously after its completion in 1973, and being taller than both World Trade Center towers, in spite of the fact the 1 World Trade Center Tower (North Tower) possessed a higher pinnacle absolute height after it added its 360-foot (110m) radio antenna (total height of 1727 feet or 526.3 meters) in 1978. The 1 World Trade Center building maintained a higher absolute height to antenna top until the Sears Tower enlarged its own radio antenna in 2000 to a total height of 1730 feet. However, the Willis Tower was always considered the taller building because it still possessed a greater height to its architectural top (1451 feet vs. 1362 feet), and thus its status as the world's tallest was generally not contested.

Other historic cases in which a building with a taller absolute pinnacle height was not considered the tallest building include, in 1905 when the former New York Times building or The Times Square Building (at 229 West 43rd Street in New York) was completed at 111 m (363 ft) to the roof with 128 m (420 ft) including a flagpole. That building was never considered to be taller than the 119 m (391 ft) high then-current record-holder Park Row Building of New York because a flagpole is not an integral architectural part of a building^.

Prior to 1998 the tallest building status had been contested on occasion, but the disputes did not result in a change of the criteria used to determine the world's tallest building. A famous historical case of this discrepancy was the rivalry between The Trump Building (then known as the Bank of Manhattan Building) and the Chrysler Building. The Bank of Manhattan Building employed only a short spire and was 927 ft (283 m) tall and had a much higher top occupied floor (the second category in the 1996 criteria for tallest building). In contrast, the Chrysler Building employed a very large 125-foot (38 m) spire secretly assembled inside the building to claim the title of world's tallest building with a total height of 1048 feet (319 m), despite having a lower top occupied floor and a shorter height when both buildings' spires are not counted in their heights. Upset by Chrysler’s victory, Shreve & Lamb, the consulting architects of Bank of Manhattan building, wrote a newspaper article claiming that their building was actually the tallest, since it contained the world's highest usable floor. They pointed out that the observation deck in the Bank of Manhattan Building was nearly 100 feet (30 m) above the top floor in the Chrysler Building, whose surpassing spire was strictly ornamental and essentially inaccessible. However, the Chrysler Building was generally accepted as the tallest building in the world despite their protests.

However, none of the previous discrepancies or disputes in criteria to measure height (spires vs antennae, absolute pinnacle height vs. architectural height, height of highest occupied floor, etc.) resulted in the controversy that occurred upon the completion of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998. The Petronas Towers possessed a higher architectural height (spires, but not antennae), but a lower absolute pinnacle height and lower top occupied floor than the previous record-holder Willis Tower in Chicago, United States. Counting buildings as structures with floors throughout, and with antenna masts excluded, Willis Tower was still considered the tallest at that time. When the Petronas Twin Towers were built, controversy arose because their spires extended nine metres higher than the roof of Willis Tower. Excluding their spires, the Petronas Towers are not taller than Willis Tower. At their convention in Chicago, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) found the Willis Tower to be the third-tallest building, and the Petronas Towers to be the world's tallest buildings. This decision caused a considerable amount of controversy in the news media because this was the first time a country outside the United States had held the world’s tallest building record. Therefore, the CTBUH revised their criteria and defined four categories in which the world's tallest building can be measured, by retaining the old criterion of height to architectural top and added three new categories

1. Height to Architectural Top (including spires and pinnacles, but not antennas, masts or flagpoles). This measurement is the most widely used and is used to define the rankings of the 100 Tallest Buildings in the World.
2. Highest Occupied Floor
3. Height to Top of Roof - omitted from criteria from November 2009 onwards
4. Height to Tip

The height to roof criterion was discontinued because relatively few modern tall buildings possess flat rooftops, making this criterion difficult to determine and measure. The CBTUH has further clarified their definitions of building height, including specific criteria concerning subbasements and ground level entrances (height measured from lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance rather than from a previously undefined "main entrance"), building completion (must be topped out both structurally and architecturally, fully clad, and able to be occupied), condition of the highest occupied floor (must be continuously used by people living or working and be conditioned, thus including observation decks, but not mechanical floors) and other aspects of tall buildings.

The height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance. At the time, the Willis Tower held first place in the second and third categories, the Petronas Towers held the first category, and the 1 World Trade Center building held the fourth with its antenna height to top of pinnacle.  In 2000, however, a new antenna mast was placed on the Willis Tower, giving it hold of the fourth category. On April 20, 2004, Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, was completed. Its completion gave it the world record for the first three categories. On July 21, 2007 it was announced that Burj Khalifa had surpassed Taipei 101 in height, reaching 512 m (1,680 ft).

Since being completed in early 2010, Burj Khalifa leads in all categories (the first building to do so). With a spire height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft), Burj Khalifa surpassed Taipei 101 as the tallest building to architectural detail and the Willis Tower as the tallest building to tip. It also leads in the category of highest occupied floor.

Before Burj Khalifa was completed, Willis Tower led in the fourth category with 527 m (1,729 ft), previously held by the World Trade Center until the extension of the Chicago tower's western broadcast antenna in 2000, over a year prior to the World Trade Center's destruction in 2001. Its antenna mast included, One World Trade Center measured 526 m (1,726 ft). The World Trade Center became the world's tallest buildings to be destroyed or demolished; indeed, its site entered the record books twice on September 11, 2001, in that category, replacing the Singer Building, which once stood a block from the World Trade Center site. A different superlative for skyscrapers is their number of floors. The World Trade Center set that at 110, and this was not surpassed for nearly four decades until the Burj Khalifa, which opened in 2010.

Structures such as the CN Tower, the Ostankino Tower and the Oriental Pearl Tower are excluded from these categories because they are not "habitable buildings", which are defined as frame structures made with floors and walls throught.

Date (Event)	Architectural top	Highest occupied floor	Roof	Tip
2010: Burj Khalifa completed	Burj Khalifa	Burj Khalifa		Burj Khalifa
2009: CTBUH omits Height to Roof category	Taipei 101	Shanghai World Financial Center		Willis Tower
2008: Shanghai World Financial Center completed	Taipei 101	Shanghai World Financial Center	Shanghai World Financial Center	Willis Tower
2003: Taipei 101 completed	Taipei 101	Taipei 101	Taipei 101	Willis Tower
2000: Willis Tower antenna extension	Petronas Towers	Willis Tower	Willis Tower	Willis Tower
1998: Petronas Towers completed	Petronas Towers	Willis Tower	Willis Tower	World Trade Center
1996: CTBUH defines categories	Willis Tower	Willis Tower	Willis Tower	World Trade Center

World's tallest freestanding structure on land

Freestanding structures include observation towers, monuments and other structures not generally considered to be "Habitable buildings", but excludes supported structures such as guyed masts and ocean drilling platforms.

The world's tallest freestanding structure on land is defined as the tallest self-supporting man-made structure that stands above ground. This definition is different from that of world's tallest building or world's tallest structure based on the percentage of the structure that is occupied and whether or not it is self-supporting or supported by exterior cables. Likewise, this definition does not count structures that are built underground or on the seabed, such as the Petronius Platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Visit world's tallest structure by category for a list of various other definitions.

As of May 12, 2008, the tallest freestanding structure on land is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The building, which now stands at 829.8 m (2,722 ft), surpassed the height of the previous record holder, the 553.3 m (1,815 ft) CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, on September 12, 2007. It was completed in 2010, and was topped out at 829.8 m (2,722 ft) in January 2009.

 

Record from	Record held (years)	Name and Location	Constructed	Height (metres)	Height (feet)	Coordinates	Notes
c. 2650 BC	40	Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt	c. 2650 BC	62	203	29°52′16.53″N 31°12′59.59″E
c. 2610 BC	5	Meidum Pyramid in Egypt	c. 2610 BC	93.5	307	29°23′17″N 31°09′25″E	Shortly after completion Meidum Pyramid collapsed due to bad design/instability and is now 65 m (213 ft).
c. 2605 BC	5	Bent Pyramid in Egypt	c. 2605 BC	101.1	332	29°47′25″N 31°12′33″E	Angle of slope decrease during construction to avoid collapse.
c. 2600 BC	40	Red Pyramid of Sneferu, Egypt	c. 2600 BC	105	345	29°48′31.39″N 31°12′22.49″E
c. 2560 BC	3871	Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt	c. 2560 BC	146	481	29°58′44.93″N 31°08′3.09″E	By 1439, the Great Pyramid had eroded to a height of approximately 139 m (456 ft).
1311	238	Lincoln Cathedral in England	1092–1311	160	525	53°14′3.26″N 0°32′10.54″W	The central spire was destroyed in a storm in 1549. While the reputed height of 525 ft (160 m) is accepted by most sources,[21][22][23][24][25][26] others consider it doubtful[27]
1549	98	St. Mary's Church in Stralsund, Germany	1384–1478	151	495	54°18′36.01″N 13°5′14.81″E	The spire burnt down after a lightning strike in 1647. The height is 104 m (341 ft) .
1647	227	Strasbourg Cathedral in France	1439	142	469	48°34′54.22″N 7°45′1.48″E	By 1439, the Great Pyramid had eroded to a height of approximately 139 m (456 ft) hence Strasbourg Cathedral was higher .
1874	2	St. Nikolai in Hamburg, Germany	1846–1874	147	483	53°32′50.94″N 9°59′26.12″E
1876	4	Cathédrale Notre Dame in Rouen, France	1202–1876	151	495	49°26′24.54″N 1°5′41.85″E
1880	4	Cologne Cathedral in Germany	1248–1880	157	515	50°56′28.08″N 6°57′25.73″E ;50°56′29.11″N 6°57′25.85″E
1884	5	Washington Monument in Washington D.C., United States	1884	169	555	38°53′22.08″N 77°2′6.89″W	The world's tallest all-stone structure, as well as the tallest obelisk-form structure.
1889	41	Eiffel Tower in Paris, France	1889	300	986	48°51′29.77″N 2°17′40.09″E	First structure to exceed 300 metres in height. The addition of a telecommunications tower in the 1950s brought the overall height to 324 m (1,063 ft).
1930	1	Chrysler Building in New York, United States	1928–1930	319	1,046	40°45′5.78″N 73°58′31.52″W
1931	36	Empire State Building in New York, United States	1930–1931	381	1,250	40°44′54.95″N 73°59′8.71″W	First building with 100+ storeys. The addition of a pinnacle and antennas later increased its overall height to 448.7 m (1,472 ft). This was subsequently lowered to 443.1 m (1,454 ft).
1967	8	Ostankino Tower in Moscow, Russia	1963–1967	537	1,762	55°49′10.94″N 37°36′41.79″E	Remains the tallest in Europe. Fire in 2000 led to extensive renovation.
1975	32	CN Tower in Toronto, Canada	1973–1976	553	1,815	43°38′33.22″N 79°23′13.41″W	Remains the tallest in the Western Hemisphere
2007	7	Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates	2004–2009	829.8	2,722	25°11′50.0″N 55°16′26.6″E	Holder of world's tallest freestanding structure. Topped out at 829.8 m (2,722 ft) in 2009.

Tallest structures, freestanding structures, and buildings

The list categories are:

• The structures (supported) list uses pinnacle height and includes architectural structures of any type that might use some external support constructions like cables and are fully built in air. Only the three tallest are listed, as more than fifty US TV masts have stated heights of 600–610 metres (1969–2000 ft).
• The structures (media supported) list uses pinnacle height and includes architectural structures of any type that are not totally built in the air but are using support from other, denser media like salt water. All structures greater than 500 metres (1,640 ft) are listed.
• The freestanding structures list uses pinnacle height and includes structures over 400 metres (1,312 ft) that do not use guy-wires or other external supports. This means truly free standing on its own or, in similar sense, non-supported structures.
• The building list uses architectural height (excluding antennas) and includes only buildings, defined as consisting of habitable floors. Both of these follow CTBUH guidelines. All supertall buildings (300 m and higher) are listed.

Notes:

• Eight buildings appear on the freestanding structures category list with heights different from another category. This is due to the different measurement specifications of those lists.
• Only current heights and, where reasonable, target heights are listed. Historical heights of structures that no longer exist, for example, for having collapsed, are excluded.

Rank	Name and location	Year completed	Architectural top (metres)	Architectural top (feet)	Floors
Structures (supported)
1	KVLY-TV mast, Blanchard, North Dakota, United States	1963	629	2,064	–
2	KXJB-TV mast, Galesburg, North Dakota, United States	1998	628	2,060	–
3	KXTV/KOVR Tower, Walnut Grove, California, United States	2000	625	2,051	–
Structures (media supported)
1	Petronius Platform, Gulf of Mexico	2000	610	2,000	–
2	Baldpate Platform, Gulf of Mexico	1998	580	1,900	–
3	Bullwinkle Platform, Gulf of Mexico	1989	529	1,736	–
Freestanding structures
1	Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	2010	829.8	2,722	163
2	Tokyo Sky Tree, Tokyo, Japan	2011	634	2,080	–
3	Abraj Al Bait, Mecca, Saudi Arabia	2011	601	1,972	120
4	Canton Tower, Guangzhou, China	2010	600	1,969	–
5	CN Tower, Toronto, Ontario, Canada	1976	553	1,814	–
6	One World Trade Center, New York City, USA	2013	546.2	1,792	104
7	Ostankino Tower, Moscow, Russia	1967	540	1,770	–
8	Willis Tower, Chicago, United States	1974	527	1,729	108
9	Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan	2004	509	1,670	101
10	Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai, China	2008	492	1,614	101
11	International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong	2010	484	1,588	118
12	Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai, China	1994	468	1,535	–
13	John Hancock Center, Chicago, United States	1969	457	1,499	100
14	Petronas Tower I, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	1998	452	1,483	88
	Petronas Tower II, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	1998	452	1,483	88
15	Zifeng Tower, Nanjing, China	2009	450	1,480	89
16	Empire State Building, New York City, United States	1931	443	1,453	102
17	Milad Tower, Tehran, Iran	2007	435	1,427	–
18	Kuala Lumpur Tower, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	1995	421	1,381	–
19	Jin Mao Building, Shanghai, China	1998	421	1,381	88
20	Chimney of GRES-2 Power Station, Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan	1987	420	1,380	–
21	Two International Finance Centre, Hong Kong	2003	415	1,362	88
22	Tianjin Radio and Television Tower, Tianjin, China	1991	415	1,362	–
23	Central TV Tower, Beijing, China	1992	405	1,329	–
Buildings
1	Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	2010	828	2,717	163
2	Abraj Al Bait, Mecca, Saudi Arabia	2011	601	1,972	120
3	One World Trade Center, New York City, USA	2013	541.3	1,776	104
4	Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan	2004	509	1,670	101
5	Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai, China	2008	492	1,614	101
6	International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong	2010	484	1,588	118
7	Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	1998	452	1,483	88
8	Zifeng Tower, Nanjing, China	2009	450	1,480	89
9	Willis Tower, Chicago, United States	1974	442	1,450	108
10	Jin Mao Building, Shanghai, China	1998	421	1,381	88
11	Two International Finance Centre, Hong Kong	2003	415	1,362	88
12	CITIC Plaza, Guangzhou, China	1997	391	1,283	80
13	Shun Hing Square, Shenzhen, China	1996	384	1,260	69
14	Empire State Building, New York City, United States	1931	381	1,250	102
15	Central Plaza, Hong Kong	1992	374	1,227	78
16	Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong	1990	367	1,204	70
17	Bank of America Tower, New York City, United States	2008	366	1,201	54
18	Almas Tower, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	2008	360	1,180	74
19	Emirates Office Tower, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	2000	355	1,165	54
20	Tuntex Sky Tower, Kaohsiung, Taiwan	1997	348	1,142	85
21	Aon Center, Chicago, United States	1973	346	1,135	83
22	The Center, Hong Kong	1998	346	1,135	73
23	John Hancock Center, Chicago, United States	1969	344	1,129	100
24	Rose Tower, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	2007	333	1,093	72
	Shimao International Plaza, Shanghai, China	2006	333	1,093	60
25	Minsheng Bank Building, Wuhan, China	2007	331	1,086	68
25	Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea (topped out)	1992	330	1,080	105
	China World Trade Center Tower 3, Beijing, China	2008	330	1,080	74
27	Q1, Gold Coast, Australia	2005	323	1,060	78
28	Burj Al Arab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	1999	321	1,053	60
29	Chrysler Building, New York City, United States	1930	319	1,047	77
	Nina Tower I, Hong Kong	2007	319	1,047	80
	New York Times Building, New York City, United States	2007	319	1,047	52
32	Bank of America Plaza, Atlanta, United States	1992	312	1,024	55
33	U.S. Bank Tower, Los Angeles, United States	1989	310	1,020	73
34	Menara Telekom, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	2001	310	1,020	55
35	Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	2000	309	1,014	56
36	One Island East, Hong Kong	2008	308	1,010	70
37	AT&T Corporate Center, Chicago, United States	1989	307	1,007	60
38	The Address Downtown Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	2008	306	1,004	63
39	JPMorgan Chase Tower, Houston, United States	1982	305	1,001	75

Currently under construction and on-hold (2014.)

Numerous supertall skyscrapers are in various stages of proposal, planning, or construction. Each of the following are under construction and, depending on the order of completion, could become the world's tallest building or structure in at least one category:

• Kingdom Tower Is currently under construction in Saudi Arabia, scheduled to be completed in 2019. It will be the first building to ever reach a height of 1 kilometer, and will also become the tallest building in the world.
• India Tower is on-hold in Mumbai's Marine Lines, is expected to be 720 m (2,360 ft) tall. This tower will be used for hotel and residential. Construction was started in 2010^[30] and expected to complete by 2016.^[31][32]
• The Pingan International Finance Centre, under construction in Shenzhen, is expected to be 648 m (2,126 ft). Completion is expected in 2015.
• The Shanghai Tower, under construction in Shanghai, next to the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Jin Mao Building, is expected to be 632 m (2,073 ft). Completion is expected in 2014.
• One World Trade Center, topped-out in New York City, at 1,776 ft (541 m) will become the tallest building in the United States. Also, it will become the world's tallest all-office building and the tallest outside the middle east.
• Construction of the Pentominium, in Dubai, is currently on hold. If construction resumes, the building is expected to be 516 m (1,693 ft) tall with 120 floors, which would make it the tallest all-residential building in the world. Construction began in 2007, but was halted in August 2011.