Data for 2002

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2002

Name: PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2002
Creator: Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis
License: https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/datasets/surface-pm2-5/

Figures for 2002, as Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

PM2.5 is the dust, soot and smoke in the air fine enough to reach deep into the lungs. This is the yearly average concentration the typical resident breathes: the country's pollution map weighted by where its people live, estimated from satellites, a chemical model and ground monitors.

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2002 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 72.6; French Polynesia is lowest, at 1.9. The middle country reads 15.4. Against 2001, 216 values changed (106 up, 110 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2002

HighestQatar

72.6

LowestFrench Polynesia

1.9

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end.

220countries
4measures per country
2002the year it describes
158distinct values1 decimal, as published
Sep 29, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2002, as published. Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 220 countries · select a heading to sort

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2002: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	72.6	79.9	100.0	100.0
2	Niger`NER`Western Africa	50.7	46.5	100.0	99.5
3	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	50.4	41.0	100.0	76.1
4	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	49.4	44.7	100.0	83.6
5	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	47.4	42.3	100.0	94.3
6	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	44.0	45.6	100.0	58.2
7	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	42.6	42.3	100.0	75.8
8	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	41.6	39.3	100.0	92.6
9	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	41.1	39.1	100.0	81.7
10	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	40.7	37.7	100.0	81.2
11	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	40.5	48.0	100.0	70.4
12	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	40.4	38.1	100.0	61.4
13	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	39.7	43.2	100.0	95.6
14	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	39.5	43.8	100.0	53.1
15	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	38.6	24.9	100.0	56.8
16	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	37.4	27.8	100.0	47.7
17	India`IND`Southern Asia	36.8	31.3	100.0	44.9
18	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	35.3	35.3	100.0	56.0
19	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	34.8	37.0	100.0	49.0
20	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	32.3	34.0	100.0	22.5
21	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	32.1	36.2	100.0	35.8
=22	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	32.0	30.9	100.0	34.0
=22	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	32.0	32.3	100.0	32.8
24	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	31.0	30.2	100.0	23.5
25	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	30.7	31.9	100.0	28.1
26	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	30.3	25.7	100.0	14.7
27	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	30.1	29.5	100.0	10.2
28	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	28.7	27.1	100.0	20.6
29	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	28.6	32.3	100.0	16.5
30	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	28.5	27.1	100.0	8.4
=31	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	27.5	28.8	100.0	15.8
=31	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	27.5	29.3	100.0	13.0
=33	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	27.3	28.7	100.0	11.9
=33	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	27.3	24.2	100.0	14.0
=35	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	26.6	25.8	100.0	1.1
=35	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	26.6	26.7	100.0	0.8
37	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	26.4	27.1	100.0	4.9
38	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	26.3	20.8	100.0	16.1
39	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	25.7	24.8	100.0	0.0
=40	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	25.6	24.2	100.0	2.6
=40	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	25.6	21.1	100.0	9.4
42	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	25.1	15.9	100.0	8.6
43	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	24.8	23.5	100.0	0.0
=44	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	24.4	23.4	100.0	13.9
=44	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	24.4	20.7	100.0	6.7
46	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	24.1	22.4	100.0	0.0
47	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	24.0	19.3	100.0	3.8
48	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	23.9	21.3	100.0	5.7
49	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	23.7	23.5	100.0	6.8
=50	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	23.5	21.6	100.0	1.5
=50	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	23.5	24.8	100.0	1.8
52	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	23.4	25.4	100.0	0.3
=53	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	23.2	22.1	100.0	1.4
=53	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	23.2	22.7	100.0	0.3
55	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	22.9	19.4	100.0	1.7
56	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	22.8	20.8	99.5	0.0
57	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	22.5	19.5	100.0	4.2
58	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	22.4	19.9	100.0	0.0
=59	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	22.1	20.5	100.0	0.1
=59	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	22.1	14.7	100.0	14.1
61	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	22.0	20.4	100.0	0.0
=62	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	21.9	20.5	100.0	0.0
=62	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	21.9	20.5	100.0	0.0
=64	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	21.7	20.9	100.0	0.0
=64	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	21.7	18.7	100.0	0.0
=64	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	21.7	21.6	100.0	1.1
67	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	21.4	20.8	100.0	0.0
68	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	21.3	20.8	100.0	0.0
69	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	21.2	19.2	100.0	0.0
70	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	21.0	19.5	100.0	2.0
71	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	20.9	14.8	100.0	4.1
72	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	20.8	19.8	100.0	0.0
73	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	20.5	20.4	100.0	0.0
=74	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	19.6	18.0	100.0	0.0
=74	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	19.6	26.7	100.0	0.1
76	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	19.4	14.0	100.0	0.0
=77	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	19.2	17.7	100.0	1.7
=77	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	19.2	17.5	100.0	0.0
79	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	19.1	18.4	100.0	0.0
80	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	19.0	17.9	100.0	0.0
=81	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	18.9	14.8	100.0	0.0
=81	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	18.9	15.0	100.0	2.1
=83	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	18.8	15.5	100.0	0.0
=83	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	18.8	16.8	100.0	0.0
=83	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	18.8	18.8	100.0	0.0
86	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	18.7	18.1	100.0	0.0
=87	Bolivia`BOL`South America	18.3	18.1	100.0	0.0
=87	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	18.3	17.0	100.0	0.0
=87	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	18.3	14.3	100.0	8.3
90	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	18.1	20.8	100.0	0.0
91	Chile`CHL`South America	18.0	15.7	100.0	0.0
92	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	17.8	18.3	100.0	0.0
=93	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	17.6	14.2	100.0	0.0
=93	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	17.6	15.4	100.0	0.0
=93	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	17.6	17.3	100.0	0.0
96	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	17.3	15.7	100.0	0.0
97	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	17.2	16.9	100.0	0.0
98	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	17.1	16.4	100.0	0.0
=99	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	16.6	16.6	100.0	0.0
=99	Mexico`MEX`Central America	16.6	10.6	100.0	0.0
101	Paraguay`PRY`South America	16.3	15.6	100.0	0.0
102	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	16.2	15.5	100.0	0.0
103	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	15.9	15.2	100.0	0.3
=104	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	15.7	12.7	100.0	0.7
=104	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	15.7	13.8	100.0	2.2
=104	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	15.7	19.4	100.0	0.3
=107	Honduras`HND`Central America	15.6	12.4	100.0	0.0
=107	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	15.6	13.1	100.0	0.5
=109	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	15.4	27.7	100.0	0.7
=109	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	15.4	11.5	100.0	0.0
111	Colombia`COL`South America	15.3	13.4	100.0	0.0
=112	Northern Cyprus`XNC`Western Asia	15.2	15.0	100.0	0.0
=112	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	15.2	12.6	100.0	0.0
=114	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	15.1	14.3	100.0	0.0
=114	Peru`PER`South America	15.1	13.5	100.0	0.0
116	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	15.0	17.0	100.0	0.0
=117	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	14.9	15.5	100.0	0.0
=117	Venezuela`VEN`South America	14.9	11.9	100.0	0.0
119	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	14.8	8.1	97.7	0.0
120	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	14.7	14.2	100.0	0.0
=121	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	14.6	12.6	100.0	0.3
=121	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	14.6	14.5	100.0	0.0
=123	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	14.2	12.8	100.0	0.0
=123	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	14.2	13.5	100.0	0.0
=123	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	14.2	11.6	100.0	1.5
126	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	14.1	13.3	100.0	0.0
=127	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	14.0	13.8	100.0	0.0
=127	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	14.0	12.1	100.0	0.0
=129	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	13.8	10.8	100.0	0.0
=129	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	13.8	11.4	100.0	0.0
131	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	13.7	13.4	100.0	0.0
132	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	13.6	12.0	100.0	0.0
133	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	13.4	13.0	100.0	0.0
134	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	13.3	15.4	100.0	0.1
135	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	13.2	12.6	100.0	0.0
136	Brazil`BRA`South America	13.1	14.8	100.0	0.0
137	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	13.0	13.0	100.0	0.0
=138	Argentina`ARG`South America	12.9	12.1	99.6	0.1
=138	France`FRA`Western Europe	12.9	11.3	100.0	0.0
=138	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	12.9	12.9	100.0	0.0
=138	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	12.9	12.2	100.0	0.0
142	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	12.8	12.9	100.0	0.0
143	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	12.7	12.1	100.0	0.0
144	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	12.6	11.6	100.0	0.3
=145	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	12.5	11.2	100.0	0.0
=145	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	12.5	12.7	100.0	0.0
=145	Panama`PAN`Central America	12.5	10.5	100.0	0.0
=148	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	12.3	12.0	100.0	0.0
=148	Ecuador`ECU`South America	12.3	11.0	99.9	0.0
=148	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	12.3	10.7	100.0	0.0
=151	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	12.2	9.1	100.0	0.0
=151	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	12.2	11.7	100.0	0.0
=153	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	12.1	10.5	99.8	0.0
=153	United States`USA`Northern America	12.1	7.3	99.6	0.0
155	Uruguay`URY`South America	12.0	10.7	100.0	0.0
156	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	11.9	11.7	100.0	0.0
157	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	11.6	9.8	99.9	0.0
158	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	11.2	9.4	100.0	0.0
=159	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	11.0	10.9	100.0	0.0
=159	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	11.0	9.1	100.0	0.0
161	Suriname`SUR`South America	10.8	9.0	100.0	0.0
162	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	10.5	8.6	96.8	0.0
163	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	9.6	8.9	100.0	0.0
=164	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	9.5	8.9	100.0	0.0
=164	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	9.5	10.0	99.9	0.0
=164	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	9.5	9.4	100.0	0.0
167	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	9.3	8.8	100.0	0.0
168	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	9.2	8.7	100.0	0.0
=169	Belize`BLZ`Central America	9.1	9.3	100.0	0.0
=169	Guyana`GUY`South America	9.1	8.7	100.0	0.0
171	Canada`CAN`Northern America	8.8	4.1	97.6	0.0
172	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	8.5	8.4	100.0	0.0
=173	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	8.4	8.0	100.0	0.0
=173	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	8.4	8.2	99.2	0.0
=173	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	8.4	7.9	100.0	0.0
=176	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	8.2	7.9	100.0	0.0
=176	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	8.2	5.2	90.8	0.0
178	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	8.1	7.6	85.8	0.0
=179	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	8.0	8.0	100.0	0.0
=179	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	8.0	7.8	100.0	0.0
181	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	7.9	8.0	100.0	0.0
182	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	7.6	6.7	85.0	0.0
=183	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	7.5	7.5	100.0	0.0
=183	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	7.5	8.2	100.0	0.0
=183	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	7.5	7.4	100.0	0.0
=186	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	7.2	7.2	100.0	0.0
=186	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	7.2	7.2	100.0	0.0
=188	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	6.8	6.5	99.1	0.0
=188	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	6.8	6.7	100.0	0.0
190	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	6.7	4.5	76.1	0.0
=191	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	6.6	6.4	99.2	0.0
=191	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	6.6	6.5	99.6	0.0
193	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	6.4	6.6	100.0	0.0
194	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	6.3	4.5	78.3	0.0
195	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	6.2	6.3	99.7	0.0
196	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	5.8	5.5	98.5	0.0
197	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	5.4	5.2	86.1	0.0
198	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	5.1	5.0	59.6	0.0
199	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	4.9	4.9	33.7	0.2
200	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	4.8	4.5	30.1	0.0
201	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	4.6	4.0	22.2	0.0
202	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	4.3	4.3	0.3	0.0
=203	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	4.2	4.1	0.3	0.0
=203	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	4.2	4.2	0.0	0.0
205	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	4.0	4.0	0.2	0.0
206	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	3.7	3.8	0.0	0.0
=207	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	3.3	3.3	0.0	0.0
=207	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	3.3	3.4	0.0	0.0
=209	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	3.2	3.1	0.0	0.0
=209	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	3.2	3.2	0.0	0.0
211	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	3.1	3.0	0.0	0.0
212	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	3.0	3.0	0.0	0.0
213	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	2.9	2.9	0.0	0.0
=214	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	2.8	2.8	0.0	0.0
=214	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	2.8	1.7	0.0	0.0
=214	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	2.8	2.8	0.0	0.0
=214	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	2.8	3.0	0.0	0.0
218	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	2.3	2.3	0.0	0.0
219	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	2.1	1.3	0.0	0.0
220	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	1.9	-2.0	0.0	0.0

02In 2002

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

1Qatar72.6
2Niger50.7
3Saudi Arabia50.4
4Pakistan49.4
5Kuwait47.4

Lowest

220French Polynesia1.9
219Greenland2.1
218Cook Islands2.3
214Niueshared2.8
214Northern Mariana Islandsshared2.8

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 15.4. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar79.9
LowestFrench Polynesia-2.0
Middle country: 14.2
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest175 share it
Lowest16 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
HighestQatar100.0
Lowest146 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032001 → 2002

Since 2001

+0 / −0countries joined / left
216values changed, of 220 in both
106 · 110rose · fell
4unchanged

Rose most

Mali30.9 → 41.6+10.7
Burkina Faso32.2 → 41.1+8.9
Pakistan42.2 → 49.4+7.2
Malaysia12.3 → 19.0+6.7
Niger44.1 → 50.7+6.6

Fell most

Lesotho47.6 → 26.6−21.0
Egypt46.0 → 28.6−17.4
Bangladesh53.5 → 40.7−12.8
United Arab Emirates50.4 → 40.5−9.9
Oman41.4 → 32.3−9.1

Changes in value, not in places: a country’s place also moves when others do.

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

158 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 12.9. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 220 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
220 rows · 8.0 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download pm25-exposure-2002-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group’s own file, on its own site.
e673hbmsl75gechxnrjotenel6k4hdfc

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis (2002). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2002 [data set], describing 2002. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2002

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2001
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2003
220 countries
All of them
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure: every year
26 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

This edition

The same ranking, cut differently

Behind the number

Browse

By continent

Much-read profiles

Every subject

The numbers

Reading the data