The tower, which is still under construction, is now 629 metres high, just above the height of the previous record holder, which stands at 628.8 metres.

The Burj Dubai was already the world's tallest building and tallest free-standing structure. At 160 storeys high it is taller than the 508-metre Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan and CN Tower in Toronto, Canada.

Burj Dubai is billed to meet all four criteria used by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which classifies the world's tallest structures. The council measures the height of buildings to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flag pole.

When completed, the Burj Dubai will have used 330,000 cubic metres of concrete, 39,000 metric tonnes of steel rebar and 142,000 square metres of glass. About 5,000 people are working on the project.

The tower is being built by a joint venture of South Korea’s Samsung Corporation, the local/Belgian Bel Hasa Six Construct and the local Arabtec Construction. The UK’s Hyder Consulting is the engineer. Turner Construction International is the project manager. Dubai-based real estate developer Emaar Properties is the client.