Air quality in Dhaka

Air quality index (AQI) and PM2.5 air pollution in Dhaka

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Weather

What is the current weather in Dhaka?

Weather icon
WeatherMist
Temperature77°F
Humidity89%
Wind3.4 mph
Pressure29.8 inHg
Air pollution has cost an estimated20,000 deaths*in Dhaka in 2024Find out more*Air pollution also cost approximately $2,500,000,000 USD in Dhaka in 2024.

live aqi city ranking

Real-time Bangladesh city ranking

#cityUS AQI
1The national flag of International Dhaka, Dhaka

162

(Local time)

SEE WORLD AQI RANKING

live Dhaka aqi ranking

Real-time Dhaka air quality ranking

#stationUS AQI
1 climate change and health_icddrb

216

2 Grace International School

185

3 Shanta Forum

179

4 Hemayetpur, Savar

172

5 West Nakhalpara Road

170

6 Bay's Edgewater Outdoor

162

7 US Embassy in Dhaka

161

8 Gulshan-2 | Rob Bhaban

157

9 Gulshan Lake Park | Smart Air Bangladesh

153

10 ৩২ নং রোড

83

(Local time)

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US AQI

162

live AQI index
Unhealthy

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Overview

What is the current air quality in Dhaka?

Air pollution levelAir quality indexMain pollutant
Unhealthy 162 US AQIPM2.5
PollutantsConcentration
PM2.5
70.6µg/m³
O3
32µg/m³
!

PM2.5

x14.1

PM2.5 concentration in Dhaka is currently 14.1 times the WHO annual air quality guideline value

Health Recommendations

What is the current air quality in Dhaka?

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Forecast

Dhaka air quality index (AQI) forecast

DayPollution levelWeatherTemperatureWind
Wednesday, Oct 9

Unhealthy for sensitive groups 121 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
89.6° 75.2°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 159 degree 2.2 mph
Thursday, Oct 10

Unhealthy for sensitive groups 116 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
89.6° 77°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 257 degree 6.7 mph
Friday, Oct 11

Moderate 98 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
89.6° 75.2°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 254 degree 6.7 mph
Today

Unhealthy 162 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon 100%
89.6° 75.2°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 254 degree 6.7 mph
Sunday, Oct 13

Unhealthy for sensitive groups 128 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
91.4° 77°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 308 degree 4.5 mph
Monday, Oct 14

Unhealthy for sensitive groups 150 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
91.4° 77°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 332 degree 6.7 mph
Tuesday, Oct 15

Unhealthy 154 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
89.6° 75.2°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 329 degree 6.7 mph
Wednesday, Oct 16

Unhealthy 153 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
89.6° 75.2°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 333 degree 4.5 mph
Thursday, Oct 17

Unhealthy for sensitive groups 147 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
86° 75.2°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 326 degree 4.5 mph
Friday, Oct 18

Unhealthy for sensitive groups 149 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
87.8° 75.2°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 11 degree 4.5 mph
Saturday, Oct 19

Unhealthy 151 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
87.8° 73.4°
IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 19 degree 6.7 mph

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AIR QUALITY ANALYSIS AND STATISTICS FOR Dhaka

How bad is the air pollution in Dhaka?

Dhaka, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city of Bangladesh. It holds the title of not only being the largest city in the country, but being the 9th largest city worldwide. It also ranks at 6th place out of the most populous cities in the world, with just under 9 million people living within the city’s limits. Due to these reasons, as well as being the economic hub of the whole country, Dhaka is subject to some fairly bad pollution levels annually, with only brief periods of respite, that despite being lower still hold some relatively high numbers of pollution readings, making its air harmful to breathe year-round.

In 2019, Dhaka came in with a PM2.5 reading of 83.3 μg/m³ as the yearly average, putting it in the ‘unhealthy’ bracket of air quality, which requires a PM2.5 reading between 55.5 to 150.4 μg/m³ to be classed as unhealthy. Besides just being a classification, this rating is of course indicative that the air quality is indeed unhealthy to breathe, with numbers going well above the yearly average such as January coming in with a record high of 181.8 μg/m³, putting it into the ‘very unhealthy’ bracket (150.5 to 250.4 μg/m³).

This yearly average reading of 83.3 μg/m³ was enough to put Dhaka in 1st place out of all cities in Bangladesh (of note is that the only city registered for pollution levels in the country was Dhaka, so this first-place ranking was inevitable) as well as being the 21st most polluted city worldwide in 2019, making the level of air pollution in Dhaka quite severe, and of great detriment to its citizens.

What are the main causes of pollution in Dhaka?

Dhaka faces pollution problems from all sides, as being a highly populated city, it would be subject to the air contaminating effects of the massive use of cars, motorbikes and trucks, many of which are not subject to strict regulations in regards to the age or quality of their engines, or the fuels they run on. As a result, many of these vehicles travel the roads emitting far more pollution that a regular car would, often running on fossil fuels such as diesel, which releases higher levels of contaminants into the air than its cleaner counterparts.

There is also the industrial side of the city, contributing to the ever-growing pollution levels. Factory or production sites such as brick kilns are responsible for the massively elevated levels of pollution. Due to an economic boom and the subsequent increase in demand, Dhaka’s kilns are known to produce billions of bricks each year, often relying on unregulated fuel sources for power (such as the burning of coal, wood and any other combustible material) which can release excessive amounts of noxious fumes and smoke into the atmosphere.

Besides these two issues, there are problems related to large dust concentrations building up in the city, somewhat similar to the highly polluted city of Delhi in India, as well as open burning sites where refuse containing organic matter as well as toxic materials such as plastics and rubber are set alight in the streets.

What are the main pollutants found in the air in Dhaka?

With a large amount of its pollution coming from vehicles, industries and construction sites, Dhaka would be subject to some extremely dangerous pollutants finding themselves into its atmosphere. Materials such as black carbon and volatile organic compounds are all released in copious amounts from the use of fossil fuels such as diesel in coal, present in vehicles and factories alike, as well as arising from the aforementioned open burn sources (with the incomplete combustion of materials such as wood often leading to large amounts of black carbon being produced, often in the form of soot).

Chemical compounds such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) would also be abundant in the atmosphere, once again finding their creation from both cars and factories alike. The brick kilns would produce vast amounts of their own smoke and haze, containing other compounds such as carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3). The large amounts of dust given off by poorly maintained construction sites would contain a variety of PM2.5 and PM10, such as silica dust, or finely ground soil or gravel particles, all of which can cause a number of long-term health effects when respired.

When is pollution in Dhaka at its worse?

As touched on previously, pollution levels start to show considerable rises in the month of October, coinciding with the end of monsoon season and as such lacking the necessary rain that is always helpful in cleaning a cities air and washing away its fine dust particles.

September saw a PM2.5 reading of 37.7 μg/m³ in 2019. This jumped up significantly in October to 64.6 μg/m³, and increase of nearly twofold. These numbers continued to rise until they hit their absolute peak in January, with a reading of 181.8 μg/m³ being present.

With air pollution levels this bad, preventative measures become vital for Dhaka's citizens, with the avoidance of outdoor activities as well as the wearing of fine particle filtering masks being highly necessary. After the peak in January, pollution levels still remained extremely high but showed a steady drop, with a reading of 145.7 μg/m³ in February, followed by 107.4 μg/m³ in March. These numbers continued to drop until reaching the cleanest months of the year, June through to September, with August coming in with the cleanest reading of the year at 31.3 μg/m³.

What can Dhaka do to reduce its pollution levels?

In order to reduce such elevated levels of pollution, many steps would need to be taken, albeit in the face of such economic growth it would a task that the city of Dhaka would be hard pressed to do. The introduction of stricter regulations regarding fuels and vehicles allowed on the road would be helpful in the fight against reducing ambient pollution levels in the air, with the removal of diesel fuel as well as ancient fume producing engines being of large help.

Other steps would be to introduce stricter measures to both factories and construction sites, holding individual organizations accountable for the amount of pollution that they produce, with the possibility of adding fines to those that exceed unsafe levels of pollution, as well as particulate matter. Whilst certainly a compounded issue, the introduction of these initiatives would be a step in the right direction for Dhaka to obtain a cleaner level of air quality, and improve its US AQI readings as well as PM2.5 levels.

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