The ac loss characteristics of coated conductors are dominated by the magnetic fieldcomponent normal to their superconductor layer. Multilayer cables as well asmonolayer cables consisting of 4 mm-wide coated conductors (named 4 mm cables)and those consisting of 2 mm-wide coated conductors (named 2 mm cables) weredesigned, and numerical electromagnetic field analyses were performed in their crosssections to calculate their ac losses. Trapezoidal lateral critical current densityJc distributions with shoulders as well as uniform ones were assumed incoated conductors for the analyses. The former models the degradedJc near the edges of coated conductors. In the case of the monolayer, thecalculated ac losses of the 2 mm cables were comparable to those of the 4 mmcables. In the cases of the multilayers, the calculated ac losses of the 2 mmcables were obviously less than those of the 4 mm cables. The degradedJc near the edges of coated conductors more seriously affects the ac loss characteristics of the 2 mmcables than those of the 4 mm cables. However, even if we consider the influence of the degradedJc near the edges of coated conductors, 2 mm-wide coated conductors are more profitable than4 mm-wide coated conductors in multilayer cables from the viewpoint of ac loss reduction.