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Country Guide  ·  Honest Height Rankings

Tallest Buildings
in United Arab Emirates

In Honest 100

15

Rank pending

0

Tallest (honest)

585.4m

Best ratio

1.7%

The United Arab Emirates has 16 buildings in the Honest 100 - second only to China. Almost all are in Dubai. The median Vanity Ratio for confirmed UAE buildings is approximately 18%, significantly above the global median. The range spans from Marina 101 at 12.7% to the Emirates Office Tower at 32.3%, with the Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building - scoring 29.3% on a 828-metre frame that is occupied only to 585 metres. Dubai is also home to four of the world's highest observation decks.

Buildings ranked by Honest Height - the elevation of the highest occupied floor, not architectural top. The gap is the Vanity Ratio. See the full methodology.

Buildings in United Arab Emirates, drawn to scale

Each silhouette drawn to scale. Silver = the height humans actually reach. Amber = the decorative steel above it.

29.3%

vanity ratio · +243m

585m

honest

828m

“official”

#1

honest

#1

“official”

Burj Khalifa

Dubai

1.7%

vanity ratio · +7m

374m

honest

381m

“official”

#40

honest

#60

“official”

Elite Residence

Dubai

12.7%

vanity ratio · +54m

371m

honest

425m

“official”

#45

honest

#33

“official”

Marina 101

Dubai

3.7%

vanity ratio · +14m

367m

honest

381m

“official”

#47

honest

#58

“official”

Burj Mohammed bin Rashid

Abu Dhabi

13.6%

vanity ratio · +57m

357m

honest

413m

“official”

#53

honest

#39

“official”

Princess Tower

Dubai

3.0%

vanity ratio · +11m

345m

honest

356m

“official”

#63

honest

#84

“official”

Il Primo Tower

Dubai

3.9%

vanity ratio · +14m

344m

honest

358m

“official”

#65

honest

#80

“official”

City Tower 1

Dubai

20.2%

vanity ratio · +79m

314m

honest

393m

“official”

#80

honest

#47

“official”

23 Marina

Dubai

14.7%

vanity ratio · +52m

300m

honest

352m

“official”

#84

honest

#91

“official”

Marina Torch

Dubai

16.1%

vanity ratio · +57m

298m

honest

355m

“official”

#86

honest

#85

“official”

JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Tower 1

Dubai

16.1%

vanity ratio · +57m

298m

honest

355m

“official”

#87

honest

#86

“official”

JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Tower 2

Dubai

22.4%

vanity ratio · +81m

279m

honest

360m

“official”

#95

honest

#75

“official”

Almas Tower

Dubai

22.4%

vanity ratio · +80m

276m

honest

356m

“official”

#97

honest

#81

“official”

Gevora Hotel

Dubai

25.7%

vanity ratio · +95m

275m

honest

370m

“official”

#98

honest

#68

“official”

Kempinski The Boulevard Dubai

Dubai

32.3%

vanity ratio · +115m

240m

honest

355m

“official”

#102

honest

#87

“official”

Emirates Office Tower

Dubai

Top 5 in United Arab Emirates · Confirmed occupied height

Ranks 6-15 in United Arab Emirates

Observation decks in United Arab Emirates

The honest take on United Arab Emirates

The UAE chose height as a policy instrument, and the buildings reflect that. When you build a city from scratch in a desert, you have fewer constraints on what the top of a building needs to do. The spires here are not antennas (mostly) - they are design choices. At 29.3%, the Burj Khalifa's vanity gap is 242.6 metres of steel nobody lives in. That is taller than most buildings on Earth. That is the architectural choice that defined a decade of supertall design globally.

The Honest 100 · Methodology · Vanity Ratio explained