CTBUH Releases 2023 Report on Tall Trends

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has released “Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2023,” the latest in its series of annual evaluations of the state of tall building construction across the globe. Eagerly anticipated by architects, engineers, real estate developers and professionals in a wide range of industries related to tall-building construction, the online report revealed higher-than-anticipated growth in the sector: a record-setting 175 buildings 200 m and higher were completed in 2023 — a 7.4% increase over 2018. The report also highlighted some new milestones in tall-building construction: the world has a new second-tallest building: Merdeka 118, in Kuala Lumpur; and 18 cities around the world recorded a new tallest building. Some report findings run counter to popular perceptions: 94 buildings 200 m and higher were completed in China last year; that’s more than eight times as many as in the U.A.E., where there were 11 buildings 200 m and higher completed in 2023, ranking it second in that category. China’s growth was led by 27 200-m-plus completions in Shenzhen, which now hosts one out of every 14 of the world’s buildings over 200 m. The CTBUH Year in Review report derives from an annual audit of buildings in advanced stages of construction that are tracked in the organization’s extensive database of more than 40,000 tall buildings throughout the world, as well as projects submitted to its yearly awards program by CTBUH members and the general public.