2018-2022

World's most polluted countries & regions grey informational icon

Most polluted country and region ranking based on annual average PM2.5 concentration (μg/m³)

2022

World Air Quality Report

PM2.5 legend

0-5

Meets WHO guideline

5.1-10

Exceeds by 1 to 2 times

10.1-15

Exceeds by 2 to 3 times

15.1-25

Exceeds by 3 to 5 times

25.1-35

Exceeds by 5 to 7 times

35.1-50

Exceeds by 7 to 10 times

>50.1

Exceeds by over 10 times

Rank
Country/Region
2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 Population
1 Chad
Chad
89.7 75.9 -- -- -- 17,179,740
2 Iraq
Iraq
80.1 49.7 -- 39.6 -- 43,533,592
3 Pakistan
Pakistan
70.9 66.8 59 65.8 74.3 231,402,117
4 Bahrain
Bahrain
66.6 49.8 39.7 46.8 59.8 1,463,265
5 Bangladesh
Bangladesh
65.8 76.9 77.1 83.3 97.1 169,356,251
6 Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
63 -- -- -- -- 22,100,683
7 Kuwait
Kuwait
55.8 29.7 34 38.3 56 4,250,114
8 India
India
53.3 58.1 51.9 58.1 72.5 1,407,563,842
9 Egypt
Egypt
46.5 29.1 -- 18 -- 109,262,178
10 Tajikistan
Tajikistan
46 59.4 30.9 -- -- 9,750,064
11 United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
45.9 36 29.2 38.9 49.9 9,365,145
12 Sudan
Sudan
44.6 44.1 -- -- -- 45,657,202
13 Rwanda
Rwanda
44 -- -- -- -- 13,461,888
14 Qatar
Qatar
42.5 38.2 44.3 -- -- 2,688,235
15 Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
41.5 32.7 23.3 22.1 -- 35,950,396
16 Nepal
Nepal
40.1 46 39.2 44.5 54.1 30,034,989
17 Uganda
Uganda
39.6 27.6 26.1 29.1 40.8 45,853,778
18 Nigeria
Nigeria
36.9 34 -- 21.4 44.8 213,401,323
19 Bosnia Herzegovina
Bosnia Herzegovina
33.6 27.8 40.6 34.6 40 3,270,943
20 Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
33.5 42.8 29.9 41.2 34.3 34,915,100
21 Iran
Iran
32.5 30.3 27.2 24.3 25 87,923,432
22 Armenia
Armenia
31.4 33.9 24.9 25.5 -- 2,790,974
23 Ethiopia
Ethiopia
31.3 23.9 14.7 20.1 27.1 120,283,026
24 Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
31.1 50.8 43.5 33.2 -- 6,691,800
25 China
China
30.6 32.6 34.7 39.1 41.2 1,412,360,000
26 Indonesia
Indonesia
30.4 34.3 40.7 51.7 42 273,753,191
27 Ghana
Ghana
30.2 25.9 26.9 30.3 -- 32,833,031
28 Mongolia
Mongolia
29.5 33.1 46.6 62 58.5 3,347,782
29 Laos
Laos
27.6 21.5 22.4 23.1 -- 7,275,556
30 Vietnam
Vietnam
27.2 24.7 28 34.1 32.9 97,468,029
31 North Macedonia
North Macedonia
25.6 25.4 30.6 32.4 35.5 2,065,092
32 Gabon
Gabon
25 -- -- -- -- 2,341,179
33 Serbia
Serbia
24.7 25.5 24.3 23.3 23.9 6,834,326
34 Zambia
Zambia
24.6 -- -- -- -- 19,473,125
35 Myanmar
Myanmar
24.3 25.9 29.4 31 -- 53,798,084
36 Madagascar
Madagascar
23.7 21 20 -- -- 28,915,653
37 Croatia
Croatia
23.5 25.4 21.2 19.1 22.2 3,899,000
38 Peru
Peru
23.5 29.6 17.9 23.3 28 33,715,471
39 South Africa
South Africa
23.4 22.7 18 21.6 -- 59,392,255
40 Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
23 31.1 21.9 23.6 29.8 19,000,988
41 Moldova
Moldova
22.6 -- -- -- -- 2,615,199
42 Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast
22.5 -- 21.9 -- -- 29,389,150
43 Chile
Chile
22.2 21.7 19.3 22.6 24.9 19,493,184
44 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
21.6 20.4 17 -- -- 6,341,855
45 Turkey
Turkey
21.1 20 18.7 20.6 21.9 84,775,404
46 Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
20.7 17.4 22.4 25.2 32 22,156,000
47 Senegal
Senegal
20.4 -- 11.2 -- -- 16,876,720
48 Syria
Syria
20 23 -- 32.2 -- 21,324,367
49 Mexico
Mexico
19.5 19.3 18.9 20 20.3 126,705,138
50 Greece
Greece
19 19 18.4 22.5 -- 10,641,221
51 Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
18.9 17.6 -- -- -- 10,137,750
52 Italy
Italy
18.9 15.2 18.5 17.1 14.9 59,109,668
53 Israel
Israel
18.8 18.7 16.9 20.8 18.6 9,364,000
54 Guatemala
Guatemala
18.6 19.5 19.2 20.2 -- 17,109,746
55 Bulgaria
Bulgaria
18.3 16.3 27.5 25.5 25.8 6,877,743
56 South Korea
South Korea
18.3 19.1 19.5 24.8 24 51,744,876
57 Thailand
Thailand
18.1 20.2 21.4 24.3 26.4 71,601,103
58 Algeria
Algeria
17.8 20 20.2 21.2 -- 44,177,969
59 Malaysia
Malaysia
17.7 19.4 15.6 19.4 -- 33,573,874
60 Romania
Romania
17.2 15.3 15.8 18.3 18.6 19,119,880
61 Georgia
Georgia
17 21 20.4 20.1 -- 3,708,610
62 Poland
Poland
16.3 19.1 16.9 18.7 22.4 37,747,124
63 Colombia
Colombia
15.7 14.1 15.6 14.6 13.9 51,516,562
64 Montenegro
Montenegro
15.7 35.2 26.1 -- -- 619,211
65 Cyprus
Cyprus
15.6 14.8 15.8 19.7 17.6 1,244,188
66 Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
15.5 -- -- 32.1 -- 95,894,118
67 Macao SAR
Macao SAR
15.4 17 17.8 23.5 21.2 686,607
68 Slovenia
Slovenia
15.1 13.3 -- -- -- 2,108,079
69 Philippines
Philippines
14.9 15.6 12.8 17.6 14.6 113,880,328
70 Kosovo
Kosovo
14.7 14.7 20 23.5 30.4 1,786,038
71 Slovakia
Slovakia
14.5 16 15.3 16.1 18.5 5,447,247
72 Hong Kong SAR
Hong Kong SAR
14.5 15.9 15.4 20.3 20.2 7,413,100
73 Albania
Albania
14.5 12.5 16 -- -- 2,811,666
74 El Salvador
El Salvador
14.2 -- -- -- -- 6,314,167
75 Czech Republic
Czech Republic
13.4 13.9 12.3 14.4 20.2 10,505,772
76 Taiwan
Taiwan
13.4 16.2 15 17.2 18.5 23,816,775
77 Singapore
Singapore
13.3 13.8 11.8 19 14.8 5,453,566
78 Lithuania
Lithuania
13.2 13.2 11.7 14.5 17.5 2,800,839
79 Guyana
Guyana
12.6 -- -- -- -- 804,567
80 Hungary
Hungary
12.6 15.5 14.3 14.6 16.8 9,709,891
81 Brazil
Brazil
12.2 13.6 14.2 15.8 16.3 214,326,223
82 Malta
Malta
11.7 13.5 11.8 9.4 11 518,536
83 Kenya
Kenya
11.5 14.3 14.2 -- -- 53,005,614
84 France
France
11.5 11.4 11.1 12.3 13.2 67,749,632
85 Uruguay
Uruguay
11.3 14.2 -- -- -- 3,426,260
86 Russia
Russia
11.2 12.3 9.3 9.9 11.4 143,449,286
87 Netherlands
Netherlands
11 11.3 9.7 10.9 11.7 17,533,044
88 Germany
Germany
11 10.6 10.1 11 13 83,196,078
89 Spain
Spain
10.9 10.7 10.4 9.7 10.3 47,415,750
90 Maldives
Maldives
10.9 -- -- -- -- 521,457
91 Belgium
Belgium
10.8 11.5 8.9 12.5 13.5 11,592,952
92 Austria
Austria
10.6 11.4 10.9 12.2 15 8,955,797
93 Honduras
Honduras
10.2 11.8 -- -- -- 10,278,345
94 Latvia
Latvia
10.1 -- 11.3 13.3 -- 1,884,490
95 Switzerland
Switzerland
10 10.8 9 10.9 11.6 8,703,405
96 Ukraine
Ukraine
9.7 18.5 19.2 16.6 14 43,792,855
97 Japan
Japan
9.1 9.1 9.8 11.4 12 125,681,593
98 Panama
Panama
9 -- -- -- -- 4,351,267
99 USA
USA
8.9 10.3 9.6 9 9.1 331,893,745
100 Nicaragua
Nicaragua
8.9 -- -- -- -- 6,850,540
101 United Kingdom
United Kingdom
8.9 8.8 8.3 10.5 10.8 67,326,569
102 Angola
Angola
8.8 11 13 15.9 -- 34,503,774
103 Denmark
Denmark
8.6 9.6 9.4 9.6 -- 5,856,733
104 Cambodia
Cambodia
8.3 19.8 21.1 21.1 20.1 16,589,023
105 Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
8.3 7.2 -- -- -- 39,039
106 Portugal
Portugal
8.1 7.1 9.1 9.3 9.4 10,325,147
107 Costa Rica
Costa Rica
7.9 7.8 8.2 10.4 -- 5,153,957
108 Argentina
Argentina
7.7 8.2 14.2 14.6 -- 45,808,747
109 Ireland
Ireland
7.5 8 8.6 10.6 9.5 5,033,165
110 Luxembourg
Luxembourg
7.4 9 9 9.6 11.2 640,064
111 Canada
Canada
7.4 8.5 7.3 7.7 7.9 38,246,108
112 Bolivia
Bolivia
7.3 -- -- -- -- 12,079,472
113 Suriname
Suriname
7 -- -- -- -- 612,985
114 Norway
Norway
7 7.5 5.7 6.9 7.6 5,408,320
115 Sweden
Sweden
6.2 6.6 5 6.6 7.4 10,415,811
116 Belize
Belize
5.6 -- -- -- -- 400,031
117 Andorra
Andorra
5.4 7.3 7.4 -- -- 79,034
118 Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
5.1 7.1 -- -- -- 1,525,663
119 Finland
Finland
5 5.5 5 5.6 6.6 5,541,017
120 Estonia
Estonia
4.9 5.9 5.9 6.2 7.2 1,330,932
121 New Zealand
New Zealand
4.8 6.8 7 7.5 7.7 5,122,600
122 Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
4.3 4.8 3.7 10.2 13.7 3,263,584
123 Australia
Australia
4.2 5.7 7.6 8 6.8 25,688,079
124 Grenada
Grenada
3.8 5.5 -- -- -- 124,610
125 New Caledonia
New Caledonia
3.5 3.8 3.7 -- -- 271,030
126 Iceland
Iceland
3.4 6.1 7.2 5.5 5 372,520
127 Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
3.3 5.1 -- -- -- 26,221
128 Bermuda
Bermuda
3 -- -- -- -- 63,867
129 U.S. Virgin Islands
U.S. Virgin Islands
2.9 4.5 3.7 3.5 -- 105,870
130 French Polynesia
French Polynesia
2.5 -- -- -- -- 304,032
131 Guam
Guam
1.3 -- -- -- -- 170,534

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