With a population of over 12 million, Île-de-France, often called the Paris region, is home to most of the tallest buildings in France. Many of the tallest buildings in the Paris metropolitan area are located outside of the city boundaries of Paris, especially in the business district of La Défense. The tallest structure in Paris is the Eiffel Tower in the city's 7th arrondissement at a height of 330 metres (1,083 ft). Completed in 1889 as the gateway to the Exposition Universelle, the Eiffel Tower was the first man-made structure in the world to exceed 300 m (984 ft), and has since become the city's most famous landmark. The tallest habitable building in the Paris region is The Link, a 242 metre (794 ft), 52-storey office skyscraper in La Défense built in 2025. As of 2026, there are 85 high-rise buildings in the Paris region that stand over 100 m (328 ft), the most of any metropolitan area in the European Union. 24 skyscrapers in the Paris region are taller than 150 m (492 ft), the fourth-most in Europe after Moscow, Istanbul, and London.
Very few high-rises were built in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The Plan Voisin redevelopment of Paris, designed by French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier in 1925, would have replaced a large area of central Paris with identical tower blocks, but the plan was rejected by the city for being too radical. The Tour Albert, a 23-storey high-rise built in 1960, is considered to be the first residential high-rise in Paris. It preceded the arrival of larger-scale residential projects in the city in the 1960s and 1970s in the outer arrondissements, particularly the Italie 13 urbanism project in the 13th arrondissement. The project led to the creation of numerous towers in the south of the arrondissement, most notably the Les Olympiades complex. Italie 13 was met with public criticism as its towers were erected. French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing decided to stop the Italie 13 project in 1974, leaving it only partially completed.
The business district of La Défense emerged in the 1960s and quickly added a number of commercial skyscrapers to its skyline in the early 1970s, including the Tour Les Poissons and Tour Areva. Around that time, the Tour Montparnasse was constructed in Paris as part of the redevelopment of the old Montparnasse station. The 210 m (689 ft) tall office skyscraper was quickly disliked by many Parisians due to its height, location, and monolithic appearance. In 1977, four years after its completion, Paris prohibited the construction of buildings with over seven storeys from the city centre. Following the ban, high-rise development in the Paris region has mainly occurred in La Défense. The 111 m (364 ft) tall Grande Arche was built in 1989 on the Axe historique, placing it in the centre of the La Défense skyline when seen from the Arc de Triomphe. The La Défense skyline has expanded significantly in the 21st century with skyscrapers such as Tour T1, Tour D2, Tour Majunga and Tour Hekla. Tour First underwent a height increase from 159 m (522 ft) to 231 m (758 ft) in 2011, making it the tallest building in France before it was surpassed by The Link in 2025.
In 2010, the city of Paris relaxed its height limit in select areas. This allowed a few new skyscrapers to be built in the city, including a new building for the Tribunal de Paris and the Tours Duo complex. After construction began on the Tour Triangle, a 42-storey pyramidal skyscraper, a new height limit was imposed in 2023, banning skyscrapers in Paris once again. Today, most of the Paris region's high-rises are located in La Défense, to the west of the city of Paris; in the 13th arrondissement; and in Front de Seine, located along the Seine near the Eiffel Tower in the 15th arrondissement. Other high-rise buildings are scattered throughout the region, mainly in close proximity to the Périphérique freeway. These include Les Mercuriales in Bagnolet, the Tour Pleyel in Saint-Denis, the Hôtel Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile in the city proper, and the Tour Montparnasse.
History
Map of tallest buildings
Grand Paris
The map below shows the distribution of high-rise buildings taller than 100 m (328 ft) in the Paris region, with La Défense visible on the northwest of the map.
La Défense The map below shows the distribution of high-rise buildings taller than 100 m (328 ft) in La Défense. Each marker is numbered by the building's height rank, and coloured by the decade of its completion.
Tallest buildings
This list ranks completed buildings in the Paris region that stand at least 100 m (328 ft) tall as of 2026, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. The “Year” column indicates the year of completion. Buildings tied in height are sorted by year of completion with earlier buildings ranked first, and then alphabetically.