The Burj Khalifa has held the title of tallest building in the world since 2010, but the race for the sky is far from over. At 828 meters (2,717 feet), Dubai’s icon dominates the skyline, yet a challenger in Saudi Arabia aims to break the kilometer barrier by the end of the decade.

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Current tallest building: Burj Khalifa, 828 m (2,717 ft) ·
Year completed: 2010 ·
Number of floors: 163 ·
Next tallest under construction: Jeddah Tower, planned 1,000+ m (3,281+ ft) ·
Tallest building before Burj Khalifa: Taipei 101, 508 m (1,667 ft)

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
2What’s unclear
3Timeline signal
4What’s next
  • Jeddah Tower projected for 2028 completion, potentially becoming first 1-km building (Civitatis – travel data)
  • Burj Khalifa likely to remain tallest until at least the late 2020s (Civitatis – travel data)

What is the tallest building in the world today?

Burj Khalifa height and location

Current record holder since 2010

The Burj Khalifa officially opened in January 2010, instantly snatching the title from Taipei 101. It holds multiple records: most floors of any building, highest occupied floor, and highest restaurant (Civitatis – record summary). Its visibility from up to 60 miles (95 km) away gives Dubai a symbol visible across the desert (Civitatis – visibility claim).

How the Burj Khalifa is measured

The CTBUH uses the architectural top — the highest occupied floor plus any permanent structural elements — as the standard. By that measure, the Burj Khalifa’s spire brings it to 828 m. Competing standards (like antenna height or highest floor) can produce different numbers, but CTBUH’s classification is the industry gold standard (Wikipedia – measurement policy).

The upshot

Dubai’s record holder is so dominant that the next 10 buildings combined barely exceed its height by a third. For anyone visiting the UAE, Burj Khalifa remains the definitive answer to “tallest building in the world” — but the crown has a challenger.

Bottom line: Burj Khalifa is the tallest completed building on Earth as of 2026, at 828 m. Travelers visiting Dubai should plan for the view deck; architecture followers should watch Jeddah Tower’s progress.

Seven facts, one pattern: the height gap between first and second place is larger than the entire height of the Eiffel Tower.

Label Value
Record holder Burj Khalifa
Height (m) 828
Height (ft) 2,717
Floors 163
Year built 2010
Location Dubai, UAE
Previous record Taipei 101 (508 m)

What are the top 10 tallest buildings in the world?

Ranking: 1st to 10th tallest completed buildings

The following list uses CTBUH-measured architectural heights for completed and occupied buildings as of 2026.

  • 1. Burj Khalifa – 828 m (Dubai) – 163 floors – 2010
  • 2. Merdeka 118 – 678.9 m (Kuala Lumpur) – 118 floors – 2023 (Wikipedia – global registry)
  • 3. Shanghai Tower – 632 m (Shanghai) – 128 floors – 2015 (Wikipedia – China data)
  • 4. Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower – 601 m (Mecca) – 120 floors – 2012 (Skyscraper Center – CTBUH database)
  • 5. Ping An International Finance Centre – 599 m (Shenzhen) – 115 floors – 2017
  • 6. Lotte World Tower – 554.5 m (Seoul) – 123 floors – 2016
  • 7. One World Trade Center – 541 m (New York) – 104 floors – 2014
  • 8. Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre – 530 m (Guangzhou) – 111 floors – 2016
  • 9. Tianjin CTF Finance Centre – 530 m (Tianjin) – 98 floors – 2019
  • 10. CITIC Tower – 527.7 m (Beijing) – 109 floors – 2018

These heights are sourced from the Skyscraper Center (CTBUH’s official database) and Wikipedia’s list (peer-reviewed building registry).

2nd tallest: Merdeka 118 (Malaysia)

Merdeka 118 completed in 2023 at 678.9 m, making it the second-tallest building in the world and the tallest in Southeast Asia. Its 118 floors house offices, a hotel, and an observation deck.

3rd tallest: Shanghai Tower (China)

Shanghai Tower twists 632 m into the sky with 128 floors. Completed in 2015, it’s China’s tallest building and features the world’s second-fastest elevators.

Bottom line: The top 10 list shows Asian dominance — 9 of the 10 tallest buildings are in Asia. For investors tracking global construction trends, the region remains the epicenter of vertical growth.

What is taller than the Burj Khalifa?

Natural landmarks taller than Burj Khalifa

  • Mount Everest – 8,848.86 m (29,031.7 ft) – more than 10 times the Burj Khalifa’s height (Wikipedia – mountain elevation records)
  • Denali (Mount McKinley) – 6,190 m (20,310 ft) – still over 7 times taller
  • K2 – 8,611 m (28,251 ft) – taller than 10 Burj Khalifas stacked

Mount Everest elevation comparison

No completed building comes close to Everest. The Burj Khalifa rises 828 m; Everest’s peak sits at 8,848.86 m. You would need to stack 10.7 Burj Khalifas to reach the summit (Wikipedia – Everest official height). Even the proposed Jeddah Tower at 1,000 m would still be less than one-eighth the height of the world’s tallest mountain.

Tallest mountains vs tallest buildings

The tallest building ever conceived by humans — Jeddah Tower at 1,000+ m — would rank as just the 6,220nd tallest mountain on Earth. The tallest completed building would rank even lower. This gap highlights the vast difference between engineering ambition and natural geology.

Why this matters

Anyone searching “tallest building in the world compared to Everest” is often surprised by the scale difference. The answer is humbling: no building will exceed Everest in the foreseeable future because the structural forces required at that height — wind shear, material strength, foundation load — exceed current engineering limits.

Who owns Burj Khalifa now?

Owner: Emaar Properties

Emaar Properties, the Dubai-based real estate developer behind the entire Downtown Dubai district, owns and manages Burj Khalifa (Wikipedia – Burj Khalifa ownership). Emaar is publicly traded on the Dubai Financial Market and remains one of the largest real estate firms in the Middle East.

Developer and management details

The building was developed by Emaar Properties in partnership with the Dubai government, which used the project to diversify the emirate’s economy beyond oil. Management is handled by Emaar Hospitality Group, which operates the Armani Hotel inside the tower.

What is the future of the tallest building?

Jeddah Tower – planned height and status

Other megatall proposals

Several futuristic concepts — including the Sky Mile Tower in Tokyo (1,700 m) and the Dubai Creek Tower (initially planned at 1,300 m, since revised) — remain at the proposal stage. Of all announced projects, only Jeddah Tower has visible construction progress.

Timeline of records

  • 1885: Home Insurance Building (Chicago) – 42 m (138 ft) – first skyscraper
  • 1931: Empire State Building – 381 m (1,250 ft) – tallest for 41 years
  • 1998: Petronas Towers – 452 m (1,483 ft) – tallest for 6 years
  • 2004: Taipei 101 – 508 m (1,667 ft) – tallest for 6 years
  • 2010: Burj Khalifa – 828 m (2,717 ft) – current record
  • Future: Jeddah Tower – 1,000+ m – anticipated completion TBD
The catch

For investors and construction firms eyeing Jeddah Tower, the six-year pause from 2018 to 2025 signals that megatall building projects face financial and political risks far beyond those of conventional towers. The Burj Khalifa’s 2010 completion was a triumph of state-backed funding; Jeddah Tower may test whether private capital can replicate it.

Bottom line: Jeddah Tower is the only realistic challenger to Burj Khalifa’s crown. Engineering enthusiasts should watch its progress in 2026; real estate investors in the Middle East should note the completion timeline for potential market impacts.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the tallest building in the world today?

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, standing at 828 meters (2,717 feet), is the tallest completed building in the world as of 2026 (Wikipedia – current record).

What are the top 5 tallest buildings in the world?

1. Burj Khalifa (828 m), 2. Merdeka 118 (678.9 m), 3. Shanghai Tower (632 m), 4. Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower (601 m), 5. Ping An Finance Centre (599 m) (Skyscraper Center – CTBUH ranking).

Is there any building taller than Burj Khalifa?

No completed building surpasses the Burj Khalifa. However, Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, if completed as planned at over 1,000 m, would become the new record holder (Travel Pirates – future project).

Can a building be taller than Mount Everest?

No. Mount Everest’s peak at 8,848.86 m is more than ten times the height of the Burj Khalifa. Current engineering limits make a building that tall impossible (Wikipedia – official elevation).

Who built the Burj Khalifa?

The Burj Khalifa was developed by Emaar Properties, a Dubai-based real estate company. The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea (Wikipedia – development history).

How many floors does the Burj Khalifa have?

The Burj Khalifa has 163 floors, making it the building with the most floors in the world (Civitatis – floor count).

What will be the next tallest building in the world?

The Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, planned at over 1,000 m (3,280 ft), is the next anticipated record holder. Construction resumed in January 2025 after a long pause (ALLPLAN – project status).

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Editor’s note

This article was published in 2026. Building heights and rankings are subject to change as new projects complete. The most authoritative source for current building rankings is the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH – global standards body).

For anyone tracking the tallest building in the world, the bottom line is clear: Burj Khalifa rules today, but Jeddah Tower promises to rewrite the record — or test whether the 1-km barrier remains fiction.