Which 16 Buildings Were the World's Tallest, 1647-2026? Apr 26, 2026

16 Buildings Were the World's Tallest From 1647 to 2026

About this dataset

Each record holder is listed with its height, city, country and years in the top spot, making the succession easy to compare in one scannable table.

16 rows × 7 columns

Burj Khalifa (828m) is 63% taller than its predecessor Taipei 101 — the largest single leap in the record's 379-year history
The title shifted from European cathedrals (1647–1894) to American skyscrapers (1894–1998) to Asian supertalls (1998–present)
Burj Khalifa (828m) shattered records by 63% over Taipei 101 — the largest single leap in the dataset's 379-year history
The tallest building grew nearly 6× from 142m to 828m, shifting from European cathedrals to American skyscrapers to Asian supertalls