List of countries by air pollution

The following list of countries by air pollution sorts the countries of the world according to their average measured concentration of particulate matter (PM2.5) in micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³). The World Health Organization's recommended limit is 5 micrograms per cubic meter, although there are also various national guideline values, which are often much higher. Air pollution is among the biggest health problems of modern industrial society and is responsible for more than 10 percent of all deaths worldwide (nearly 4.5 million premature deaths in 2019), according to The Lancet. Air pollution can affect nearly every organ and system of the body, negatively affecting nature and humans alike. Air pollution is a particularly big problem in emerging and developing countries, where global environmental standards often cannot be met. The data in this list refers only to outdoor air quality and not indoor air quality, which caused an additional two million premature deaths in 2019.

2020 list (UChicago ACLI 2020)

All data are valid for the year 2020 and are taken from the Air Quality Life Index (ACLI) of the University of Chicago. In addition to particulate matter pollution, the modeled potential loss of life expectancy of the population due to particulate matter pollution is given.

Rank	Country	Particulate matter (PM2.5) (in μg/m3) WHO-Guideline=5	Loss of life expectancy (years)
1	India	76.90	−6.93
2	Pakistan	55.80	−4.98
3	Bangladesh	47.13	−4.13
4	Afghanistan	44.17	−3.84
5	Mongolia	34.20	−2.86
6	Oman	32.95	−2.74
7	Qatar	31.76	−2.62
8	Kyrgyzstan	31.63	−2.61
9	Mongolia	31.47	−2.59
10	Cameroon	31.42	−2.58
11	Qatar	29.19	−2.37
12	Bhutan	28.71	−2.32
13	Equatorial Guinea	28.61	−2.31
14	Guatemala	28.45	−2.30
15	Laos	28.00	−2.25
16	Bolivia	27.92	−2.25
17	Honduras	27.25	−2.18
18	Central African Republic	26.91	−2.15
18	Uganda	26.91	−2.15
20	El Salvador	25.60	−2.02
21	Vietnam	24.37	−1.90
22	Peru	23.88	−1.85
23	Gabon	23.82	−1.84
23	Thailand	23.82	−1.84
25	Bosnia and Herzegovina	23.78	−1.84
26	Nigeria	23.67	−1.83
27	Iraq	23.66	−1.83
28	Saudi Arabia	22.97	−1.76
29	Lesotho	22.94	−1.76
30	Turkey	21.58	−1.62
30	Kosovo	21.58	−1.56
32	Cambodia	20.81	−1.55
33	North Korea	20.64	−1.53
34	North Macedonia	20.34	−1.50
35	South Africa	20.33	−1.53
36	South Korea	20.27	−1.50
37	Syria	19.61	−1.43
38	Serbia	19.37	−1.41
39	Armenia	19.12	−1.38
40	Tajikistan	18.63	−1.34
41	Sri Lanka	18.60	−1.33
42	Bulgaria	17.99	−1.27
43	Egypt	17.90	−1.26
44	Bahrain	17.79	−1.25
45	Jordan	17.71	−1.25
46	Zambia	17.68	−1.24
47	Kenya	17.66	−1.24
48	Angola	17.37	−1.21
49	Kuwait	17.34	−1.21
50	Iran	17.17	−1.19
51	Indonesia	16.99	−1.17
52	Benin	16.83	−1.16
53	Ethiopia	16.71	−1.15
54	Djibouti	16.65	−1.14
55	Tanzania	16.61	−1.14
56	Lebanon	16.38	−1.12
57	Philippines	16.36	−1.11
58	Paraguay	16.33	−1.11
59	Afghanistan	16.23	−1.10
60	Mexico	16.16	−1.10
61	Montenegro	15.93	−1.07
62	Ecuador	15.75	−1.05
63	United Arab Emirates	15.44	−1.02
64	Togo	15.00	−0.98
65	South Sudan	14.98	−0.98
66	Poland	14.97	−0.98
67	Colombia	14.96	−0.98
68	Kyrgyzstan	14.92	−0.97
69	Malawi	14.80	−0.96
70	Taiwan	14.53	−0.93
71	Georgia	14.29	−0.91
72	Chile	14.24	−0.91
73	Kazakhstan	14.14	−0.90
74	Romania	13.80	−0.86
75	Croatia	13.75	−0.86
76	Ukraine	13.74	−0.86
77	Nicaragua	13.32	−0.82
78	Ghana	13.10	−0.79
79	Slovakia	12.88	−0.77
80	Eswatini	12.83	−0.77
81	Hungary	12.81	−0.77
82	Slovenia	12.80	−0.76
83	Moldova	12.76	−0.76
84	Italy	12.69	−0.75
85	Albania	12.68	−0.75
86	Malaysia	12.65	−0.75
87	Israel	12.43	−0.73
88	Palestine	12.39	−0.72
89	Cyprus	12.33	−0.72
90	Northern Cyprus	12.29	−0.71
91	Jamaica	12.08	−0.69
92	Maldives	12.00	−0.69
93	Czech Republic	11.87	−0.67
94	Belize	11.78	−0.66
95	Sierra Leone	11.73	−0.66
96	Eritrea	11.68	−0.65
96	Zimbabwe	11.68	−0.65
98	Azerbaijan	11.66	−0.65
99	Argentina	11.57	−0.65
100	Venezuela	11.45	−0.64
101	Chad	11.44	−0.63
102	Botswana	11.35	−0.62
103	Greece	11.18	−0.61
104	Latvia	11.16	−0.60
105	Oman	11.11	−0.60
106	Belarus	11.07	−0.60
107	Costa Rica	11.06	−0.59
108	Singapore	11.06	−0.59
109	Vatican City	10.90	−0.58
110	Papua New Guinea	10.80	−0.57
111	San Marino	10.70	−0.56
112	Liberia	10.67	−0.56
113	Guinea	10.63	−0.55
114	Namibia	10.59	−0.55
115	Ivory Coast	10.42	−0.53
116	Japan	10.28	−0.52
116	Mozambique	10.28	−0.52
118	Lithuania	10.06	−0.50
119	Niger	10.04	−0.50
120	Russia	9.98	−0.49
121	Brazil	9.95	−0.50
122	Turkmenistan	9.89	−0.48
123	Sudan	9.70	−0.46
124	Austria	9.65	−0.46
125	Monaco	9.50	−0.40
126	Haiti	8.72	−0.37
127	Gibraltar	8.70	−0.36
128	Liechtenstein	8.55	−0.35
129	Tunisia	8.42	−0.34
130	Guinea-Bissau	8.23	−0.32
131	Timor-Leste	8.04	−0.30
132	Germany	8.02	−0.30
133	Belgium	7.91	−0.28
134	Switzerland	7.84	−0.28
135	Netherlands	7.82	−0.28
136	Panama	7.77	−0.27
137	Uruguay	7.76	−0.27
138	Burkina Faso	7.62	−0.26
139	Morocco	7.43	−0.25
140	United Kingdom	7.24	−0.22
141	France	7.20	−0.22
142	Luxembourg	7.19	−0.21
143	United States	7.05	−0.21
143	Madagascar	7.05	−0.23
145	Somalia	6.96	−0.20
146	Denmark	6.94	−0.19
147	Gambia	6.78	−0.17
148	Spain	6.69	−0.18
149	Libya	6.67	−0.17
150	Dominican Republic	6.66	−0.19
151	Malta	6.50	−0.15
152	Andorra	6.39	−0.14
153	Cuba	6.07	−0.11
154	Canada	5.61	−0.08
155	Guyana	5.55	−0.06
156	Brunei	5.54	−0.05
157	Mali	5.51	−0.07
158	Algeria	5.47	−0.06
158	Solomon Islands	5.47	−0.05
160	Comoros	5.45	−0.04
161	Senegal	5.30	−0.07
162	Estonia	5.16	−0.05
163	Portugal	5.02	−0.03
164	Suriname	4.90	−0.02
165	Australia	4.66	−0.07
166	Ireland	4.56	0.00
167	Sweden	4.56	−0.02
168	Finland	4.10	0.00
169	Norway	3.79	0.00
170	Mauritius	3.61	0.00
171	Trinidad and Tobago	3.43	0.00
172	Mauritania	3.20	0.00
173	Vanuatu	3.07	0.00
174	Seychelles	3.06	0.00
175	Bahamas	2.85	0.00
176	New Zealand	2.67	0.00
177	Puerto Rico	2.25	0.00
178	Iceland	2.11	0.00
179	Dominica	2.04	0.00
180	Grenada	1.92	0.00
181	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1.91	0.00
182	Barbados	1.86	0.00
183	Saint Lucia	1.78	0.00
184	Palau	1.77	0.00
185	Cape Verde	1.76	0.00
186	Antigua and Barbuda	1.75	0.00
187	Switzerland	1.52	0.00
188	Norway	1.26	0.00
189	Austria	1.03	0.00
190	Luxembourg	1.00	0.00
191	Sweden	0.90	0.00
192	Finland	0.84	0.00
193	United Kingdom	0.81	0.00
194	Estonia	0.60	0.00
195	Denmark	0.56	0.00

2018-2023 List (IQAir World Air Quality Ranking)

All data are valid for the year 2018-2022 and are taken from the IQAir 2022 World Air Quality Ranking

External links

• IQAir World Air Quality Ranking