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10 Largest Malls in the World

Last updated on February 26, 2021 in Leisure 23 Comments

Large shopping malls provide a one-stop shopping for anything imaginable. Our list of largest malls in the world is based on the amount of “Gross Leasable Area”. This is the number of square feet the property has for revenue-generating activities like retail, dining and amusements. The building boom in Asia, where land is cheap and labor costs are low has produced the largest shopping malls. Only two shopping malls on this list are located outside Asia.

10. Siam Paragon (3.22 million sq ft)

Siam Paragonflickr/pahonyontin

Siam Paragon in Bangkok is one of the largest shopping malls in Thailand. Only the nearby CentralWorld is larger. It includes a wide range of specialty stores and restaurants as well as a multiplex movie theater, the Siam Ocean World aquarium, the Thai Art Gallery and an opera concert hall. It also has a large bowling alley and karaoke center.

9. Berjaya Times Square (3.44 million sq ft)

Berjaya Times Squareflickr/Dave_B_

Located in Kuala Lumpur, Berjaya Times Square is a twin tower complex containing a shopping center and two five star hotels. With 7.5 million square feet (700,000 m²) of built up floor area it is currently the fifth largest building in the world. The shopping mall includes more than 1,000 retail shops, 65 food outlets and several entertainment attractions such as Asia’s largest indoor theme park, Cosmo’s World and Malaysia’s first-ever IMAX 2D & 3D theater which is located on the 10th Floor.

8. Istanbul Cevahir (3.47 million sq ft)

Istanbul Cevahirflickr/elif ayse

Located on the European side of Istanbul in Turkey, the Cevahir Shopping and Entertainment Centre opened its doors in 2005. It is the largest shopping mall in Europe. There are 343 shops, 34 fast food restaurants and 14 exclusive restaurants in the shopping centre. Other facilities include a large stage for events, 12 cinemas, a bowling hall, a small roller coaster and several other entertainment facilities.

7. SM Megamall (3.6 million sq ft)

SM Megamallflickr/vanou

Opened in 1991, SM Megamall in Metro Manila is one of the largest malls in the Philippines. The mall attracts a daily foot traffic of 800,000 people with a maximum capacity of 4 million people. The mall has two main buildings. Building A features cinemas, a bowling alley, food courts and the Toy Kingdom. Building B features the retail shops. The bridgeway connecting the two main buildings of the mall contains several eateries. SM Megamall is currently under major renovation and expansion. When finished, it will be able to claim the ultimate title of largest shopping mall in the Philippines.

6. West Edmonton Mall (3.77 million sq ft)

West Edmonton Mallflickr/kenandaliya

The West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta Canada, was the largest shopping mall from 1981 until 2004 and is currently the largest mall in the Americas. Beside 800 stores and services, the mall includes the largest indoor amusement park in the world, the largest indoor waterpark in the world and Ice Palace (a scaled down version of a NHL regulation sized ice rink, so not the largest in the world). Other attractions include an 18-hole miniature golf course, a movie theater and a bowling alley.

5. Dubai Mall (3.77 million sq ft)

Dubai Mallflickr/Chu

The Dubai Mall is part of the Burj Khalifa complex, the tallest man-made structure ever built. At over 12 million square feet (equivalent in size to more than 50 soccer fields), the Dubai Mall is the largest shopping mall in the world based on total area but about the same size as the West Edmonton Mall if based on leasable space. The mall contains more than 1,200 shops including the world’s largest candy store, an ice rink, a SEGA game center (featuring a 3D bowling game), a 5 star luxury hotel, 22 cinema screens plus 120 restaurants and cafes. The mall also contains one of the largest aquariums in the world.

4. SM Mall of Asia (4.2 million sq ft)

SM Mall of Asiaflickr/Manila Daily Photo

The SM Mall of Asia in Metro Manila, the Philippines, opened in 2006, consists of four buildings interconnected by walkways. It features a 20-seater tram which takes shoppers around the mall grounds. One of the mall’s main attractions is an IMAX theater with one of the world’s biggest 3D screens. The mall also features an Olympic-sized ice skating rink. It can accommodate both recreational and competitive figure skating, as well as ice hockey.

3. CentralWorld (4.62 million sq ft)

CentralWorldflickr/UweBKK

Opened in 1990, the eight-story CentralWorld in Bangkok is the largest shopping mall in Thailand. It marketed itself as a middle class shopping center, opposed to the upper class-marketed Siam Paragon. On 19th May of this year, CentralWorld was one of the many properties set on fire by anti government protestors. The fire raged for two days and the Zen department store collapsed in the fire. After months of repair works, the shopping complex reopened on 28th September with 80% of its retail space open for business.

2. Golden Resources Mall (6.0 million sq ft)

Golden Resources Mallflickr/star5112

At 1.5 times the size of the Mall of America, Golden Resources Mall in China was the world’s largest shopping mall from 2004 to 2005. Although the developer of the mall initially estimated that the mall would have 50,000 shoppers a day, as of 2004 the actual number was far smaller, as few as 20 in an hour. One problem was that prices of most items sold were far beyond the purchasing ability of most ordinary Chinese. Another barrier was the inaccessibility of Golden Resources Shopping Mall to foreign consumers due to its location outside the heart of Beijing.

1. New South China Mall (6.46 million sq ft)

#1 of Largest Malls In The Worldflickr/Remko Tanis

New South China Mall in Dongguan, China, is the largest mall in the world based on gross leasable area. The mall features seven zones modeled on international cities including a replica of the Arc de Triomphe and a canal with gondolas. It also has an indoor-outdoor roller coaster. What is doesn’t have is customers. Since its opening in 2005, the mall has suffered from a severe lack of occupants. Much of the retail space has remained empty, with over 99% of the stores vacant. The only occupied areas of the mall are near the entrance where several Western fast food chains are located. It has been nicknamed the largest ghost mall in the world.

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Comments

  1. Sajjad says

    October 14, 2020

    I think Iran Mall is the biggest mall in the world with 21.000.000 square feet of Gross leasable
    area (GLA)! And it has +2500 shops!

  2. Steve says

    October 14, 2020

    The Mall of America in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, U.S.A. is 5.6 million square ft.

  3. Yudi says

    July 23, 2019

    Grand Indonesia Shopping Town is an integrated multipurpose complex at Thamrin Road, Central Jakarta, Indonesia. The 640,000 m2 (6,900,000 sq ft) complex consists of a huge Shopping Mall, office tower Menara BCA (BCA Tower), high end serviced residential tower Kempinski Residences and the five-star all-suite Hotel Indonesia Kempinski. It is located near the Selamat Datang Monument. In January 2017, Forbes recognized Grand Indonesia Shopping Town as one of the top five shopping malls in Jakarta.

  4. Jamie Torsch says

    March 10, 2019

    Im from Canada, West Edmonton Mall is amazing, but when i visited Mall of Asia of Philippines, oh its an awesome and exciting place to be!! the whole park is alive! no dull moments there…. looking forward for another visit!

  5. robert says

    March 7, 2019

    Last year went to the Mall of Asia. Beautiful on Manila Bay. Amusement Park in the Rear on Manila Bay, Tour Boats All Over, So much to See there. Great People and Time There.

  6. Yanski says

    January 30, 2019

    No SM Seaside ?
    Total retail floor area: 470,490 m2 (5,064,300 sq ft)

  7. George says

    October 25, 2018

    I live in Edmonton Alberta and I have loved going to the water park and amusement park

  8. Ananias Jones says

    July 1, 2018

    The West Edmonton Mall is the best, I have been there twice , even my kids enjoyed it and they want to visit every year.

  9. Redza says

    January 11, 2018

    One Utama in Malaysia is 5 million square feet. Why isn’t it on this list?

  10. Jon says

    November 12, 2017

    Still cool the WEM is still on this list.

    It’s over 30 years older than any off the others!
    Go Canada!

  11. Phoebe Pio says

    August 27, 2017

    SM North Edsa in the Philippines should be 3rd because it covers a total of 5.36 million sq ft.

  12. morteza says

    January 25, 2017

    Persian gulf complex missed in this list
    Persian gulf complex with 5.4 million sq ft gross leasable area GLA and more than 2500 store unit in Shiraz,Iran

  13. Paolo says

    December 9, 2016

    Is this updated?
    SM megamall expanded 3 buildings already..

    In Philippines, SM MEGA MALL is now the largest mall

  14. Mikyda says

    January 28, 2016

    This is an old list and should be updated. Mall of America has expanded to a total of 5.6 mil square ft. I am not sure what the leasable area is but it has over 520 stores and 50 restaurants.

  15. jeps says

    October 6, 2014

    Is this list the accurate one? Where is 1 Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya,Selangor, Malaysia position? She has 5 million square feet GLA and not listed here…funny though Berjaya Times Square is half of the size of 1 Utama and how about Midvalley Megamall and Sunway Pyramid,they are bigger in GLA than BTS!

  16. hani el yafi says

    September 11, 2013

    ii love dubai mall i live close by

  17. Matt says

    August 2, 2013

    West Ed is the best!

  18. robin wu says

    June 10, 2013

    how come there was no malls from Jakarta-Indonesia mentioned? Jakarta has 130 malls in one city only !
    with 50% of them much bigger than any other malls in Asia. Cetral park mall and taman anggrek mall are two of the biggest malls in the city, that i never saw any mall in australia or singapore better than these two.

  19. Talon says

    February 5, 2013

    I have been to many of these malls and my favorite is West Edmonton Mall. Mostly because of all the different themed areas around the building.

  20. Ditoroso says

    November 25, 2011

    Haven’t you ever heard the “Grand Indonesia” (640,000 sq meters, with more than 1000 retail shops, restaurants, 11 cinemas,.etc ) or “Central Park” (685,000 sq meters) both in Jakarta, Indonesia ?

  21. Robin says

    October 5, 2011

    @Gator, this list is based on gross leasable area. The Mall of America has “only” 2.5 million sq ft of retail space available. So although it is the second largest mall in North America it is not big enough to make it to this list.

  22. Fhe Gator says

    October 4, 2011

    The Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. is 4.2 million square feet featuring and indoor amusement park of over 3 acres and an indoor aquarium. Shouldn’t that make this list?

  23. Patric says

    January 27, 2011

    Amazing collection. looks like two of them is located in China and showing the economic advancement of PRC. I went to West Edmonton mall of Alberta and its quite popular for its perfume stores and huge collection of home and imported perfumes from European famous brands.

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