Skyscraper Construction: Nobody Comes Close To China

On Saturday, the Empire State Building marked its 90th anniversary with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio attending a special lighting ceremony at the iconic skyscraper. President Herbert Hoober officially opened the world-famous landmark on May 01, 1931 by symbolically flipping a switch in the White House and it remained the tallest building on the planet until 1970 when it was surpassed by the still under construction north tower of the World Trade Center. Today the Empire State Building is the world's 46th tallest building.

Even though China became the epicenter of skyscraper construction in the 21st century, New York City can still lay claim to the tallest building constructed worldwide in 2020 with the Central Park Tower topped off at 472 meters. It was the first time in five years that the tallest completed building was not in China and the first time since 2014 that it was in the United States when work finished on One World Trade Center.

According to The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, 106 buildings 200 meters or taller were constructed around the world last ear, a 20 percent decline on 2019. That is primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in numerous projects grinding to a halt. Despite the disruption, China managed to complete 56 buildings 200 meters tall or higher, by far the largest total of any country.

With 12 skyscrapers completed, the UAE came a distant second. Interestingly, all of its completions were in Dubai which makes it the city with the highest number of extremely tall skyscrapers constructed in 2020. The United States managed to complete 10 buildings 200 meters tall or higher last year, placing it third in the ranking.