Men's 1500 metres European record progression
The following table shows the European record progression in the men's 1500 metres, as ratified by the EAA.
Hand timing
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Venue | Date |
| 3:54.7 | John Zander | Stockholm, Sweden | August 5, 1917 | |
| 3:52.6 | Paavo Nurmi | Helsinki, Finland | June 19, 1924 | |
| 3:51.0 | Otto Peltzer | Berlin, Germany | September 11, 1926 | |
| 3:49.2 | Jules Ladoumegue | Paris, France | October 5, 1930 | |
| 3:49.2 | Luigi Beccali | Turin, Italy | September 9, 1933 | |
| 3:49.0 | Luigi Beccali | Milan, Italy | September 17, 1933 | |
| 3:48.6 | Miklós Szabó | Budapest, Hungary | October 3, 1937 | |
| 3:47.6 | Gunder Hägg | Stockholm, Sweden | August 10, 1941 | |
| 3:45.8 | Gunder Hägg | Stockholm, Sweden | July 17, 1942 | |
| 3:45.0 | Arne Andersson | Gothenburg, Sweden | August 17, 1943 | |
| 3:43.0 | Gunder Hägg | Gothenburg, Sweden | July 17, 1944 | |
| 3:43.0 | Lennart Strand | Malmö, Sweden | July 15, 1947 | |
| 3:43.0 | Werner Lueg | Berlin, Germany | June 29, 1952 | |
| 3:42.4 | Sandor Iharos | Oslo, Norway | August 3, 1954 | |
| 3:40.8 | Sandor Iharos | Helsinki, Finland | July 28, 1955 | |
| 3:40.8 | Laszlo Tabori | Oslo, Norway | September 6, 1955 | |
| 3:40.8 | Gunnar Nielsen | Oslo, Norway | September 6, 1955 | |
| 3:40.6 | Istvan Rozsavolgyi | Tata, Hungary | August 3, 1956 | |
| 3:40.2 | Olavi Salsola | Turku, Finland | July 11, 1957 | |
| 3:40.2 | Olavi Salonen | Turku, Finland | July 11, 1957 | |
| 3:38.1 | Stanislav Jungwirth | Stara Boleslav, Czechoslovakia | July 12, 1957 | |
| 3:37.8 | Michel Jazy | Paris, France | July 28, 1963 | |
| 3:36.4 | Jürgen May | Erfurt, Germany | July 14, 1965 | |
| 3:36.3 | Michel Jazy | Sochaux, France | June 25, 1966 | |
| 3:34.0 | Jean Wadoux | Paris, France | July 23, 1970 | |
| 3:32.8 | Sebastian Coe | Oslo, Norway | July 17, 1979 |
Sometimes given as 3:47.5.
Sometimes given as 3:40.5.
Automatic timing
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Venue | Date |
| 3:32.03 | Sebastian Coe | Zurich, Switzerland | August 15, 1979 | |
| 3:32.09 | Steve Ovett | Oslo, Norway | July 15, 1980 | |
| 3:31.36 | Steve Ovett | Koblenz, Germany | August 27, 1980 | |
| 3:30.77 | Steve Ovett | Rieti, Italy | September 4, 1983 | |
| 3:29.67 | Steve Cram | Nice, France | July 16, 1985 | |
| 3:28.95 | Fermín Cacho | Zurich, Switzerland | August 13, 1997 | |
| 3:28.81 | Mo Farah | Monaco | July 19, 2013 |
Timed electronically at a time when records were ratified at intervals of one tenth of a second, these were considered equivalent performances.