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.
India
- Rank: India is the fifth most polluted country in the world down from being the third most polluted country in 2023.
- Decline in Pollution: India saw a 7% decline in PM2.5 concentrations in 2024, averaging 50.6 µg/m³ compared to 54.4 µg/m³ in 2023.
- It is 10 times higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) annual PM2.5 guideline value of 5 μg/m3.
- Polluted Cities: Six of the world’s ten most polluted cities and 13 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India.
- Indian Cities: Byrnihat, Faridabad, Multanpur, Loni (Ghaziabad), Gurgaon, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, Noida, Muzaffarnagar, New Delhi (Central Delhi) and Delhi (taking the average from the rest of the city), Hanumangarh, Ganganagar
- Capital City: New Delhi’s pollution level saw a marginal decrease to an annual average of 91.6 µg/m³, from 92.7 µg/m³ in 2023.
- Life Expectancy: Air pollution remains a significant health burden in India, reducing life expectancy by an estimated 5.2 years
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12 Mar 2025
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