World's most polluted countries & regions (historical data 2018-2021)
Most polluted country and region ranking based on annual average PM2.5 concentration (μg/m³)
2021
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2021 Report - English
Meets WHO guideline
Exceeds by 1 to 2 times
Exceeds by 2 to 3 times
Exceeds by 3 to 5 times
Exceeds by 5 to 7 times
Exceeds by 7 to 10 times
Exceeds by over 10 times
Rank  | Country/Region | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bangladesh | 76.9 | 77.1 | 83.3 | 97.1 | 164,689,383 |
| 2 |  Chad | 75.9 | - | - | - | 16,425,859 |
| 3 |  Pakistan | 66.8 | 59 | 65.8 | 74.3 | 220,892,331 |
| 4 |  Tajikistan | 59.4 | 30.9 | - | - | 9,537,642 |
| 5 |  India | 58.1 | 51.9 | 58.1 | 72.5 | 1,380,004,385 |
| 6 |  Oman | 53.9 | 44.4 | - | - | 5,106,622 |
| 7 |  Kyrgyzstan | 50.8 | 43.5 | 33.2 | - | 6,524,191 |
| 8 |  Bahrain | 49.8 | 39.7 | 46.8 | 59.8 | 1,701,583 |
| 9 |  Iraq | 49.7 | - | - | - | 40,222,503 |
| 10 |  Nepal | 46 | 39.2 | 44.5 | 54.1 | 29,136,808 |
| 11 |  Sudan | 44.1 | - | - | - | 43,849,269 |
| 12 |  Uzbekistan | 42.8 | 29.9 | 41.2 | 34.3 | 33,469,199 |
| 13 |  Qatar | 38.2 | 44.3 | - | - | 2,881,060 |
| 14 |  Afghanistan | 37.5 | 46.5 | 58.8 | 61.8 | 38,928,341 |
| 15 |  United Arab Emirates | 36 | 29.2 | 38.9 | 49.9 | 9,890,400 |
| 16 |  Montenegro | 35.2 | 26.1 | - | - | 628,062 |
| 17 |  Indonesia | 34.3 | 40.7 | 51.7 | 42 | 273,523,621 |
| 18 |  Nigeria | 34 | - | - | - | 206,139,587 |
| 19 |  Armenia | 33.9 | 24.9 | 25.5 | - | 2,963,234 |
| 20 |  Mongolia | 33.1 | 46.6 | 62 | 58.5 | 3,278,292 |
| 21 |  Saudi Arabia | 32.7 | 23.3 | 22.1 | - | 34,813,867 |
| 22 |  China | 32.6 | 34.7 | 39.1 | 41.2 | 1,439,323,774 |
| 23 |  Kazakhstan | 31.1 | 21.9 | 23.6 | 29.8 | 18,776,707 |
| 24 |  Iran | 30.3 | 27.2 | 24.3 | 25 | 83,992,953 |
| 25 |  Kuwait | 29.7 | 34 | 38.3 | 56 | 4,270,563 |
| 26 |  Peru | 29.6 | 17.9 | 23.3 | 28 | 32,971,845 |
| 27 |  Egypt | 29.1 | - | - | - | 102,334,403 |
| 28 |  Bosnia Herzegovina | 27.8 | 40.6 | 34.6 | 40 | 3,280,815 |
| 29 |  Uganda | 27.6 | 26.1 | 29.1 | 40.8 | 45,741,000 |
| 30 |  Ghana | 25.9 | 26.9 | 30.3 | - | 31,072,945 |
| 31 |  Myanmar | 25.9 | 29.4 | 31 | - | 54,409,794 |
| 32 |  Lebanon | 25.7 | - | - | - | 6,825,442 |
| 33 |  Serbia | 25.5 | 24.3 | 23.3 | 23.9 | 8,737,370 |
| 34 |  North Macedonia | 25.4 | 30.6 | 32.4 | 35.5 | 2,083,380 |
| 35 |  Croatia | 25.4 | 21.2 | 19.1 | 22.2 | 4,105,268 |
| 36 |  Vietnam | 24.7 | 28 | 34.1 | 32.9 | 97,338,583 |
| 37 |  Ethiopia | 23.9 | 14.7 | 20.1 | 27.1 | 114,963,583 |
| 38 |  Syria | 23 | - | - | - | 17,500,657 |
| 39 |  South Africa | 22.7 | 18 | 21.6 | - | 59,308,690 |
| 40 |  Chile | 21.7 | 19.3 | 22.6 | 24.9 | 19,116,209 |
| 41 |  Laos | 21.5 | 22.4 | 23.1 | - | 7,275,556 |
| 42 |  Georgia | 21 | 20.4 | 20.1 | - | 3,989,175 |
| 43 |  Madagascar | 21 | 20 | - | - | 27,691,019 |
| 44 |  Turkmenistan | 20.4 | 17 | - | - | 6,031,187 |
| 45 |  Thailand | 20.2 | 21.4 | 24.3 | 26.4 | 69,799,978 |
| 46 |  Turkey | 20 | 18.7 | 20.6 | 21.9 | 84,339,067 |
| 47 |  Algeria | 20 | 20.2 | 21.2 | - | 43,851,043 |
| 48 |  Cambodia | 19.8 | 21.1 | 21.1 | 20.1 | 16,718,971 |
| 49 |  Guatemala | 19.5 | 19.2 | 20.2 | - | 17,915,567 |
| 50 |  Malaysia | 19.4 | 15.6 | 19.4 | - | 32,365,998 |
| 51 |  Mexico | 19.3 | 18.9 | 20 | 20.3 | 128,932,753 |
| 52 |  South Korea | 19.1 | 19.5 | 24.8 | 24 | 51,269,183 |
| 53 |  Poland | 19.1 | 16.9 | 18.7 | 22.4 | 37,846,605 |
| 54 |  Greece | 19 | 18.4 | 22.5 | - | 10,423,056 |
| 55 |  Israel | 18.7 | 16.9 | 20.8 | 18.6 | 8,655,541 |
| 56 |  Ukraine | 18.5 | 19.2 | 16.6 | 14 | 43,733,759 |
| 57 |  Azerbaijan | 17.6 | - | - | - | 10,139,175 |
| 58 |  Sri Lanka | 17.4 | 22.4 | 25.2 | 32 | 21,413,250 |
| 59 |  Macao SAR | 17 | 17.8 | 23.5 | 21.2 | 649,342 |
| 60 |  Bulgaria | 16.3 | 27.5 | 25.5 | 25.8 | 6,948,445 |
| 61 |  Taiwan | 16.2 | 15 | 17.2 | 18.5 | 23,816,775 |
| 62 |  Slovakia | 16 | 15.3 | 16.1 | 18.5 | 5,459,643 |
| 63 |  Hong Kong SAR | 15.9 | 15.4 | 20.3 | 20.2 | 7,496,988 |
| 64 |  Philippines | 15.6 | 12.8 | 17.6 | 14.6 | 109,581,085 |
| 65 |  Hungary | 15.5 | 14.3 | 14.6 | 16.8 | 9,660,350 |
| 66 |  Romania | 15.3 | 15.8 | 18.3 | 18.6 | 19,237,682 |
| 67 |  Italy | 15.2 | 18.5 | 17.1 | 14.9 | 60,461,828 |
| 68 |  Cyprus | 14.8 | 15.8 | 19.7 | 17.6 | 1,207,361 |
| 69 |  Kosovo | 14.7 | 20 | 23.5 | 30.4 | 1,831,000 |
| 70 |  Kenya | 14.3 | 14.2 | - | - | 53,771,300 |
| 71 |  Uruguay | 14.2 | - | - | - | 3,473,727 |
| 72 |  Colombia | 14.1 | 15.6 | 14.6 | 13.9 | 50,882,884 |
| 73 |  Czech Republic | 13.9 | 12.3 | 14.4 | 20.2 | 10,708,982 |
| 74 |  Singapore | 13.8 | 11.8 | 19 | 14.8 | 5,850,343 |
| 75 |  Brazil | 13.6 | 14.2 | 15.8 | 16.3 | 212,559,409 |
| 76 |  Malta | 13.5 | 11.8 | 9.4 | 11 | 441,539 |
| 77 |  Slovenia | 13.3 | - | - | - | 2,078,931 |
| 78 |  Lithuania | 13.2 | 11.7 | 14.5 | 17.5 | 2,722,291 |
| 79 |  Albania | 12.5 | 16 | - | - | 2,877,800 |
| 80 |  Russia | 12.3 | 9.3 | 9.9 | 11.4 | 145,934,460 |
| 81 |  Honduras | 11.8 | - | - | - | 9,904,608 |
| 82 |  Belgium | 11.5 | 8.9 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 11,589,616 |
| 83 |  Austria | 11.4 | 10.9 | 12.2 | 15 | 9,006,400 |
| 84 |  France | 11.4 | 11.1 | 12.3 | 13.2 | 65,273,512 |
| 85 |  Netherlands | 11.3 | 9.7 | 10.9 | 11.7 | 17,134,873 |
| 86 |  Angola | 11 | 13 | 15.9 | - | 32,866,267 |
| 87 |  Switzerland | 10.8 | 9 | 10.9 | 11.6 | 8,654,618 |
| 88 |  Spain | 10.7 | 10.4 | 9.7 | 10.3 | 46,754,783 |
| 89 |  Germany | 10.6 | 10.1 | 11 | 13 | 83,783,945 |
| 90 |  USA | 10.3 | 9.6 | 9 | 9.1 | 331,002,647 |
| 91 |  Denmark | 9.6 | 9.4 | 9.6 | - | 5,792,203 |
| 92 |  Japan | 9.1 | 9.8 | 11.4 | 12 | 126,476,458 |
| 93 |  Luxembourg | 9 | 9 | 9.6 | 11.2 | 625,976 |
| 94 |  United Kingdom | 8.8 | 8.3 | 10.5 | 10.8 | 67,886,004 |
| 95 |  Canada | 8.5 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 37,742,157 |
| 96 |  Ecuador | 8.4 | 7.6 | 8.6 | - | 17,643,060 |
| 97 |  Argentina | 8.2 | 14.2 | 14.6 | - | 45,195,777 |
| 98 |  Ireland | 8 | 8.6 | 10.6 | 9.5 | 4,937,796 |
| 99 |  Costa Rica | 7.8 | 8.2 | 10.4 | - | 5,094,114 |
| 100 |  Norway | 7.5 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 7.6 | 5,421,242 |
| 101 |  Andorra | 7.3 | 7.4 | - | - | 77,265 |
| 102 |  Liechtenstein | 7.2 | - | - | - | 38,137 |
| 103 |  Trinidad and Tobago | 7.1 | - | - | - | 1,399,491 |
| 104 |  Portugal | 7.1 | 9.1 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 10,196,707 |
| 105 |  New Zealand | 6.8 | 7 | 7.5 | 7.7 | 4,822,233 |
| 106 |  Sweden | 6.6 | 5 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 10,099,270 |
| 107 |  Iceland | 6.1 | 7.2 | 5.5 | 5 | 341,250 |
| 108 |  Estonia | 5.9 | 5.9 | 6.2 | 7.2 | 1,326,539 |
| 109 |  Australia | 5.7 | 7.6 | 8 | 6.8 | 25,499,881 |
| 110 |  Bahamas | 5.5 | - | - | - | 393,248 |
| 111 |  Grenada | 5.5 | - | - | - | 112,519 |
| 112 |  Finland | 5.5 | 5 | 5.6 | 6.6 | 5,540,718 |
| 113 |  Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba | 5.1 | - | - | - | 26,221 |
| 114 |  Cape Verde | 5.1 | - | - | - | 555,988 |
| 115 |  Puerto Rico | 4.8 | 3.7 | 10.2 | 13.7 | 2,860,840 |
| 116 |  U.S. Virgin Islands | 4.5 | 3.7 | 3.5 | - | 104,423 |
| 117 |  New Caledonia | 3.8 | 3.7 | - | - | 285,491 |
2021 World air quality report
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