This list of cities with the most skyscrapers defines a skyscraper as a continuously habitable high-rise building that is taller than 150 metres (492 ft).[1][2] Historically, the term first referred to buildings with 10 to 20 floors in the 1880s. The definition shifted with advancing construction technology during the 20th century which allowed for taller buildings to be constructed.[1]
Hong Kong is the city with the most skyscrapers, with a total of 569 such buildings as of 2026, followed by Shenzhen, New York City, Dubai, and Guangzhou. Historically, New York City was the city with the most skyscrapers from the development of early skyscrapers until the early 2000s, when it was overtaken by Hong Kong. The country with the most cities that have at least 30 skyscrapers is China, with 28, followed by the United States, with five. With the exception of New York City, the ten cities with the most skyscrapers are all in Asia; four of them are in mainland China.
Mumbai is the city with the most skyscrapers under construction, with over 200 skyscrapers being built, followed by Hyderabad and Gurgaon, all of which are in India.
The title of the city with the most skyscrapers changes if alternative definitions for skyscraper are used. For example, when measured by the number of buildings taller than 200 m (656 ft), Shenzhen and Dubai rank higher than Hong Kong. The ranking also depends on whether the wider metropolitan areas are counted; some metropolitan areas, such as Metro Manila, have many skyscrapers spread across several cities. There are 20 cities with at least 100 skyscrapers taller than 150 m (492 ft)). The first city to reach this milestone was New York City, and the most recent to do so was Moscow in 2025. If metropolitan areas are counted, Seoul and Metro Manila also surpass 100 skyscrapers. Skyscrapers taller than 300 m (984 ft) are called supertall. Dubai, Shenzhen, and New York have the most such buildings.
New York City, with 323 skyscrapers, remains the city with the most in North America. Melbourne has the largest skyline out of any city in Oceania, with 77 skyscrapers. Moscow has the most skyscrapers in Europe, with 60. The Brazilian city of Balneário Camboriú has the most in South America, with 30, although São Paulo is the city with the most high-rises on the continent. The city with the most skyscrapers in Africa is Johannesburg, with five such buildings.
Cities with the most completed skyscrapers
This list includes the top 50 cities by number of completed skyscrapers taller than 150 metres (490 ft), as of February 2026, according to the Skyscraper Center database, which is managed by the Council on Vertical Urbanism (CVU).[3] The CVU's figures may undercount a city's actual number of skyscrapers.[4]
Map of cities with the most skyscrapers
The following maps shows the location of every city and urban area with over 30 skyscrapers taller than 150 metres (490 ft). Cities with over 100 skyscrapers are indicated by blue dots. Labels in italics indicate metropolitan areas with over 30 skyscrapers, but without any individual city that reaches that number. Cities in China and South Korea are labelled on the lower map due the lack of space on the upper map.
Cities with at least 30 skyscrapers taller than 150 m (490 ft) as of 2026
Cities in East Asia with at least 30 skyscrapers taller than 150 m (490 ft) as of 2026
Cities with the most skyscrapers under construction
This is a list which ranks cities that have at least 10 skyscrapers under construction that are taller than 150 m (492 ft) as of September 2025. Values without a citation or a link to the city's corresponding Wikipedia page indicate that the figure was obtained from the CVU.[b][c]
Cities with the most skyscrapers by height
When using a definition of 200 metres (660 ft), Shenzhen is the city with the most skyscrapers, followed by Dubai, Hong Kong, and New York City. Dubai is the city with the most supertall skyscrapers, followed by Shenzhen and New York City.[3]
Cities with the most skyscrapers by year
The following tables list the ten cities with the most skyscrapers taller than 150 metres (492 ft) by the end of the first year of every decade, starting from 1910. This includes demolished skyscrapers such as the Singer Building in New York City and the Morrison Hotel in Chicago. Unless indicated otherwise, all data is taken from the Council on Vertical Urbanism (CVU). There are a number of skyscrapers in the CVU database for which the year of completion is unknown; such buildings are excluded from the figures below.
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1920
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1930
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1950
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1960
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1980
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1990
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2010
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2020
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See also
Notes
- ^ Penang is a state that is composed of two cities – George Town and Seberang Perai. The city of George Town may sometimes be confusingly referred to as 'Penang', as it is on The Skyscraper Center website, instead of the state as a whole.[5]
- ^ The CVU’s "Explore Data" search function limits outputs to 25 buildings for free users. Figures higher than 25 skyscrapers were obtained by conducting separate queries of buildings under construction based on their intended purpose.
- ^ CVU figures without a "greater than" sign (≥) should still be taken as minimum values, as the CVU may not catalogue every skyscraper taller than 150 m (490 ft) under construction.
- ^ a b c d e This figure is from the corresponding linked article. It excludes buildings that are topped out.
- ^ This figure is from the corresponding linked article.
- ^ The CVU counts Sydney and Parramatta as separate cities. This figure is obtained from combining its figure for Sydney and Parramatta.
References
External links
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