New South China Mall — Dongguan, China

New South China Mall dominates the list as the world's largest mall by gross leasable area at 659,612 m², yet it epitomizes retail overreach. Opened in 2005, it became the most famous ghost mall in history — 99% vacant for its first decade — far emptier than even the underperforming #2 Golden Resources Mall at its lowest, which had only 60% vacancy. Today, only 10% of its space is operational, a cautionary example of miscalculating demand: the mall's remote Dongguan location and lack of anchor tenants proved fatal. Its vacancy rate remains 90% higher than the average ghost mall globally, underscoring how scale without strategy fails.