The 7th annual World Air Quality Report 2024 has been recently released by IQAir highlighting alarming trends of the world’s most polluted countries, territories, and regions.

• IQAir is a Swiss company specializing in air quality monitoring and purification solutions.

Key Highlights of the Report

• Data Source: Data from over 40,000 air quality monitoring stations at 8,954 locations in 138 countries, territories and regions were relied on.
• Findings: 
  • Only 17% of global cities meet WHO air pollution guidelines.
  • Cleanest Countries: Seven countries (Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Estonia, Grenada, Iceland, and New Zealand) met the WHO annual average PM2.5 guideline of 5 µg/m3 
    • 126 (91.3%) out of the 138 countries and regions exceeded the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline value of 5 μg/m3.
  • Polluted Countries: The five most polluted countries in 2024 were:
    • Chad (91.8 µg/m3): More than 18 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline.
    • Bangladesh (78.0 µg/m3): More than 15 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline.
    • Pakistan (73.7 µg/m3): More than 14 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline.
    • Democratic Republic of the Congo (58.2 µg/m3): More than 11 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline.
    • India (50.6 µg/m3): More than 10 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline.
  • Metropolitan Area:
    • Most Polluted: Byrnihat, (Assam-Meghalaya border) India was the most polluted metropolitan area of 2024, with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 128.2 µg/m3.
    • Most Cleanest: Mayaguez, Puerto Rico was the cleanest metropolitan area of 2024, with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 1.1 µg/m3.
  • Most Polluted Capital City: Delhi continues to be the most polluted capital city in the world with an average PM 2.5 concentration of 91.8 μg/m3
  • Region Wise:
    • Polluted: The region of Central & South Asia was home to the top seven most polluted cities in the world.
    • Cleanest: Oceania is the world’s cleanest region, with 57% of regional cities meeting the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline value of 5 µg/m3.

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