AbstractLightning current distribution in a directly hit building is studied by using a simple equivalent circuit and an electromagnetic model. The Numerical Electromagnetics Code (NEC‐4) is employed for numerical electromagnetic analysis. The error in the shunt ratio of lightning current entering wiring, which is calculated using the electromagnetic model, is estimated to be less than 4%. The shunt ratios for lightning current entering the wiring on the top floor and the first floor are largest. Although they are larger for a higher building, they are almost constant if the building struck has more than five floors. They are smaller when there are more vertical conductors, or the length of the wiring is longer. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 159(1): 9–16, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20449