Skyscraper Construction: Nobody Comes Close To China In 2018

With 143 buildings 200 meters tall (660 feet) or higher constructed across the globe, 2018 was another hugely impressive year for skyscraper construction. According to The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the total height of those buildings comes to 35,246 meters - exceeding the length of Manhattan Island if they were laid end-to-end. China is at the forefront of the boom in skyscraper construction, building 88 in total this year.

The Citic Tower in Beijing was the tallest building completed anywhere in the world in 2018. At 528 meters tall (1,732 feet), with 108 floors above ground, it's now the eighth-tallest building worldwide and the fourth the tallest in China. The second-tallest skyscraper of 2018 was the 469.5-meter-tall (1,540 feet) Vincom Landmark 81 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam while another Chinese building comes third. The 452 meter high (1,483 feet) Changsha IFS Tower T1 was built in the city of Changsha.

After China, the U.S. comes a distant second in the 2018 skyscraper league with 13 completions while the UAE comes third with 10. Due to China's skyward ambitions, Asia is the global hub of skyscraper construction, accounting for 76.2 percent of all completions this year. North America had an 11.2 percent share of the total while the Middle East and Africa had 9.1 percent.