The skyscraper was invented in Chicago in 1884. For the next hundred years, the world's tallest building was always in the United States with New York City accumulating 87 years, and Chicago accumulating 30 years. After just over a century (1885–1998) the distinction moved to the Eastern Hemisphere. Malaysia was the first country to break United States's record of building tallest buildings in the world by building Petronas Twin Towers in 1998, which held the record for 6 years before losing it to Taipei 101 in 2004. Before the current era of commercial skyscrapers, there was an era where the tallest buildings were Christian churches/cathedrals (c. 1250–1901), dominated by England and Germanic territories. The earliest structures now known to be the tallest in the world were the Egyptian pyramids, with the Great Pyramid of Giza, at an original height of 146.5 metres (481 ft), being the tallest man–made structure in the world for over 3,800 years, until the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in 1300. From then until the completion of the Washington Monument (capped in 1884) the world's tallest buildings were churches or cathedrals. Later, the Eiffel Tower and, still later, some radio masts and television towers were the world's tallest structures.
However, though all of these are structures, some are not buildings in the sense of being regularly inhabited or occupied. It is in this sense of being regularly inhabited or occupied that the term "building" is generally understood to mean when determining what is the world's tallest building. The non-profit international organization Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which maintains a set of criteria for determining the height of tall buildings, defines a "building" as "(A) structure that is designed for residential, business or manufacturing purposes" and "has floors".
Since 2010, Burj Khalifa has been the tallest building by any criteria. It has the highest architectural element, tip and occupied floor, and is indeed the tallest structure of any kind ever built, surpassing the (now destroyed) 646.38 metres (2,120.7 ft) Warsaw Radio Mast.
Since the completion of the Washington Monument in 1884, the world's tallest building has not usually also been the world's tallest structure. The exceptions are 1930–1954, when the Chrysler Building and then the Empire State building surpassed the Eiffel Tower (to be surpassed in turn by a succession of broadcast masts, starting with the Griffin Television Tower in Oklahoma), and from 2010 with the completion of Burj Khalifa.
Here you see an overview of the tallest building in the world since the start of the 20th century. TV towers, masts, and other building types are not included.
1. Burj Khalifa
City: Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Time: 2010 – Present
Height: 828 m (2,717 ft)
2. Taipei 101
City: Taipei, TAIWAN
Time: 2004 – 2010
Height: 509 m (1,671 ft)
3. Petronas Towers
City: Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Time: 1998 – 2004
Height: 452 m (1,483 ft)
4. Willis Tower
City: Chicago, UNITED STATES
Time: 1974 – 1998
Height: 442 m (1,450 ft)
Floors: 108
5. World Trade Center
City: New York City, UNITED STATES
Time: 1972 – 1974
Height: 417 m (1,368 ft)
6. Empire State Building
City: New York City, UNITED STATES
Time: 1931 – 1972
Height: 381 m (1,250 ft)
7. Chrysler Building
City: New York City, UNITED STATES
Time: 1930 – 1931
Height: 319 m (1,046 ft)
8. The Trump Building
City: New York City, UNITED STATES
Time: 1930
Height: 283 m (928 ft)
9. Woolworth Building
City: New York City, UNITED STATES
Time: 1913 – 1930
Height: 241 m (792 ft)
10. Metropolitan Life Tower
City: New York City, UNITED STATES
Time: 1909 – 1913
Height: 213 m (700.0 ft)
11. Singer Building
City: New York City, UNITED STATES
Time: 1908 – 1909
Height: 187 m (612.1 ft)
12. Philadelphia City Hall
City: Philadelphia, UNITED STATES
Time: 1901 – 1908
Height: 167 m (548 ft)
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Canon in D Major by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
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