The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has released its annual report on skyscrapers by analysing the completion and recent construction progress of world's highest towers around the world.

CTBUH, an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design, also a non-profit organization based at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, has completed the 2017 Tall Building Year review, as part of its "Tall Buildings in Numbers data analysis series."

Graphic shows the 20 tallest skyscrapers in 2017. Image © CTBUH

The report shows that more buildings of 200 meters or higher were completed in 2017 than in any other year, with a total of 144 completions, marking the fourth consecutive record-breaking year. 

CTBUH's analysis also demonstrates that 2017 was also the most geographically diverse year in terms of the number of cities and countries that completed 200-meter-plus buildings, with 69 cities across 23 countries represented in the data, up from 54 cities across 18 countries in 2016. 28 of these cities and 8 countries completed their tallest building.

Number of buildings 200 meters or taller completed each year from 1960 to 2017, with projections through 2018. Image © CTBUH / The Skyscraper Center

China was once again in the first row of this skyscraper construction boom - when it is compared with theprevious year's report- and this year's report highlights that China completed a majority of the 200-meter-plus buildings that finished in 2017, with 76 completions for 53 percent of the total. 

CTBUH reports a slight decrease from 2016, when China completed 83 such buildings, or 65 percent of the global total, China is still by far the world leader in skyscraper construction. 

"In fact, the city with the most 200-plus-meter building completions, Shenzhen, finished 12 buildings, or 8.3 percent of the year’s total– more than any other country on the list, except China. The United States completed the second-greatest number of 200-meter-plus buildings of any country, with 10 buildings finished in 2017," stated in CTBUH's annual report.

Buildings 200 meters or taller completed in 2017 by country. Only countries with two or more completions shown. Image © CTBUH / The Skyscraper Center

"The data from 2017 shows a continuation of the trend towards a greater global proliferation of skyscraper construction," said CTBUH Executive Director Antony Wood. 

"High-rise construction is no longer confined to a select few financial and business centers, but rather is becoming the accepted global model for densification as more than one million people on our planet urbanize each week. Thirteen cities saw their first 200-meter-plus high-rise completion in 2017, in addition to the 28 cities and eight countries that saw their tallest building completed this year," he added.

Buildings 200 meters or taller completed by country and city from 1978 to 2017. Image © CTBUH / The Skyscraper Center 

According to the report, 2017 was a record-breaking year for skyscraper completions on a variety of fronts. It demonstrates that we're once again witnessing an all-time-high for 200-meter-plus building completions, with this year’s total increasing by a factor of more than four over the past decade. 

While the total number of tall building completions is an important metric to watch, the data on the rapid geographic diversification of 200-meter-plus building completions is the real story in this report. In 2007, only 20 cities across the globe completed 200-meter-plus buildings– the highest number on record at the time. A decade later, the number of cities represented in this report has more than tripled. A record 28 of those cities completed their tallest building in 2016.

The tallest completed during 2017, Ping An Finance Center in Shenzhen reaches at 599 meters. Image © Tim Griffith for KPF

The report states that two new additions were also added to the list of the World’s 10 Tallest Buildings in 2017 - the fourth and fifth tallest, Ping An Finance Center in Shenzhen and Lotte World Tower in Seoul, respectively. 

Ping An Finance Center rises 599 meters while Lotte World Tower reaches a pinnacle of 554 meters. The completion of these two towers resulted in Petronas Twin Towers being removed from the World’s 10 Tallest Buildings list.

Second tallest completed during 2017, Lotte World Tower in Seoul reaches at 554 meters. Image © Tim Griffith for KPF

Ping An Finance Center and Lotte World Tower represent the tallest of the 15 supertall buildings – those of more than 300 meters – that completed in 2017. There are now a total of 126 supertall buildings completed across the world, up 13.5 percent since 2016, and 385 percent compared to 2000, when only 26 supertalls existed. Likewise, there are now 1,319 buildings of more than 200 meters in height in the world, up 12.3 percent since 2016 and 402 percent from 2000, when only 263 existed.

CTBUH's report emphasises that 2017 shows the most geographically diverse year for 200-meter-plus building completions, Asia retained its status as the world’s skyscraper epicenter, completing 109 buildings of at least200 meters in height, representing 76 percent of the total.

World’s 100 Tallest Buildings by Location. Image © CTBUH / The Skyscraper Center 

CTBUH also analyses new trends in construction industry in terms of new technologies and increased international capital flows and it depicts that 2018 may be another a record-breaking year. 

"Asia – and China in particular – still leads the world in 200-meter- plus building completions, but the region may start to lose its dramatic lead as other regions, such as Africa and India, pick up the pace," explained CTBUH report.

"North America, which for much of the twentieth century completed the majority of 200-meter-plus buildings in the world, is also beginning to see a resurgence in tall building construction. In addition, new technologies and increased international capital flows are facilitating the creation of ever-taller skyscrapers. Looking forward, 2018 may well be another record-breaking year."

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