Data for 2006

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2006

Name: PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2006
Creator: Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis
License: https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/datasets/surface-pm2-5/

Figures for 2006, 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, 2006 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 72.2; Greenland is lowest, at 1.8. The middle country reads 16.0. Against 2005, 219 values changed (131 up, 88 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2006

HighestQatar

72.2

LowestGreenland

1.8

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

220countries
4measures per country
2006the year it describes
169distinct 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, 2006, 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, 2006: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	72.2	78.9	100.0	100.0
2	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	59.5	51.3	100.0	86.2
3	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	58.6	53.9	100.0	96.0
4	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	53.4	50.1	100.0	97.5
5	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	52.1	58.4	100.0	90.0
6	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	49.6	54.0	100.0	98.6
7	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	49.3	29.7	100.0	79.9
8	Niger`NER`Western Africa	48.0	45.6	100.0	92.2
9	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	46.1	53.0	100.0	97.6
=10	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	44.9	39.6	100.0	89.5
=10	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	44.9	38.6	100.0	80.6
12	India`IND`Southern Asia	42.4	36.9	100.0	61.5
13	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	42.1	45.8	100.0	85.8
14	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	41.0	38.9	100.0	66.0
15	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	38.3	39.0	100.0	48.3
16	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	36.7	45.4	100.0	31.6
17	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	36.6	27.6	100.0	46.5
18	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	36.4	37.0	100.0	50.0
19	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	35.6	34.9	100.0	46.0
20	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	35.4	28.6	100.0	55.1
21	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	33.9	34.2	100.0	40.6
22	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	32.7	28.0	100.0	36.1
23	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	32.1	24.9	100.0	25.6
24	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	31.7	30.4	100.0	20.6
25	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	31.1	29.8	100.0	11.7
26	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	30.9	30.1	100.0	7.2
27	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	30.3	30.0	100.0	0.5
28	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	30.2	31.1	100.0	26.1
29	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	29.8	26.7	100.0	17.4
30	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	29.6	30.8	100.0	17.6
31	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	29.4	29.7	100.0	6.7
32	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	28.8	25.2	100.0	16.4
33	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	28.6	30.2	100.0	4.6
34	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	28.1	24.4	100.0	6.1
35	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	27.9	24.9	100.0	22.7
36	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	27.7	27.7	100.0	0.0
37	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	27.6	23.3	100.0	13.9
38	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	27.3	27.6	100.0	16.7
39	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	26.5	23.5	100.0	2.0
40	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	26.3	21.6	100.0	11.6
=41	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	26.2	22.5	100.0	14.0
=41	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	26.2	19.2	100.0	23.6
=43	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	26.1	25.8	100.0	8.4
=43	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	26.1	20.8	100.0	11.7
=45	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	25.9	24.6	100.0	0.0
=45	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	25.9	27.7	100.0	8.4
47	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	25.7	24.8	100.0	0.0
=48	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	25.6	24.4	100.0	0.6
=48	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	25.6	29.7	100.0	10.0
50	Bolivia`BOL`South America	25.5	21.3	100.0	3.7
51	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	25.4	23.5	100.0	0.4
52	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	25.3	25.6	100.0	7.7
53	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	25.2	15.6	100.0	12.7
54	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	25.1	26.8	100.0	5.7
55	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	24.9	17.6	100.0	12.3
56	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	24.6	22.7	100.0	0.0
=57	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	24.4	21.3	100.0	1.5
=57	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	24.4	23.6	100.0	0.2
59	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	24.3	24.4	100.0	9.0
60	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	24.2	23.3	100.0	0.0
61	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	24.1	22.9	100.0	0.8
62	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	23.9	23.1	100.0	0.6
63	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	23.8	22.1	100.0	5.6
64	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	23.7	19.1	100.0	11.9
65	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	23.6	26.1	100.0	4.5
66	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	23.0	21.8	100.0	0.0
67	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	22.9	20.1	100.0	0.0
68	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	22.8	20.4	100.0	7.1
69	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	22.6	22.6	100.0	0.0
70	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	22.2	19.2	100.0	3.7
=71	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	22.0	30.6	100.0	6.2
=71	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	22.0	20.6	100.0	0.0
73	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	21.7	18.8	100.0	0.0
74	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	21.6	20.8	100.0	0.0
=75	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	21.2	19.9	100.0	0.0
=75	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	21.2	17.7	100.0	0.0
77	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	21.0	20.5	100.0	0.0
=78	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	20.9	20.3	100.0	7.2
=78	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	20.9	17.1	100.0	0.3
80	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	20.7	20.3	100.0	0.0
81	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	20.6	21.1	100.0	0.6
82	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	20.3	21.7	100.0	0.1
=83	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	20.2	15.2	100.0	0.0
=83	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	20.2	19.4	100.0	0.0
85	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	20.1	17.0	100.0	0.0
=86	Honduras`HND`Central America	20.0	15.9	100.0	0.0
=86	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	20.0	18.8	100.0	0.6
=88	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	19.8	18.2	100.0	0.1
=88	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	19.8	15.4	100.0	0.0
=90	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	19.3	18.9	100.0	0.0
=90	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	19.3	18.3	100.0	0.0
=92	Chile`CHL`South America	19.1	16.2	99.9	0.4
=92	Peru`PER`South America	19.1	17.0	100.0	6.7
94	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	18.6	24.1	100.0	0.1
95	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	18.4	17.9	100.0	0.0
=96	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	17.5	18.5	100.0	0.0
=96	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	17.5	13.1	100.0	0.4
=98	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	17.4	14.1	100.0	0.0
=98	Ecuador`ECU`South America	17.4	16.9	99.9	0.0
100	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	17.2	15.3	100.0	0.0
101	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	17.1	15.6	100.0	0.0
102	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	16.8	16.3	100.0	0.0
103	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	16.7	13.6	100.0	1.5
104	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	16.6	16.3	100.0	0.0
105	Mexico`MEX`Central America	16.5	10.3	99.9	0.0
106	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	16.3	17.3	100.0	0.0
=107	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	16.1	14.5	100.0	0.0
=107	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	16.1	14.9	100.0	0.0
=107	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	16.1	12.8	100.0	0.0
=107	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	16.1	14.8	100.0	0.0
=111	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	15.9	24.4	100.0	0.4
=111	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	15.9	15.2	100.0	0.0
=113	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	15.8	14.4	100.0	0.0
=113	Northern Cyprus`XNC`Western Asia	15.8	15.5	100.0	0.0
115	Venezuela`VEN`South America	15.6	13.5	100.0	0.0
116	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	15.5	18.7	100.0	0.1
117	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	15.4	15.6	100.0	0.0
=118	Colombia`COL`South America	15.3	15.1	99.9	0.0
=118	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	15.3	14.5	100.0	0.0
120	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	15.2	14.0	100.0	0.0
121	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	15.1	13.3	100.0	0.5
=122	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	14.9	12.0	100.0	0.0
=122	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	14.9	14.7	100.0	0.4
124	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	14.8	14.9	100.0	0.0
125	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	14.7	12.8	100.0	0.0
126	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	14.5	13.7	100.0	0.0
=127	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	14.4	13.3	100.0	0.0
=127	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	14.4	14.1	100.0	0.0
129	Panama`PAN`Central America	14.3	13.3	100.0	0.0
130	Paraguay`PRY`South America	14.1	13.0	100.0	0.0
131	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	13.9	7.9	98.5	0.0
132	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	13.8	13.9	99.8	0.0
133	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	13.4	10.0	100.0	0.0
=134	Argentina`ARG`South America	13.3	12.5	99.9	0.4
=134	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	13.3	12.3	100.0	0.0
=136	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	13.2	10.7	100.0	0.0
=136	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	13.2	12.1	100.0	0.0
=136	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	13.2	15.0	100.0	0.0
=136	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	13.2	10.8	100.0	0.0
=140	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	13.1	12.7	100.0	0.0
=140	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	13.1	10.6	99.9	0.0
=142	France`FRA`Western Europe	13.0	11.1	100.0	0.0
=142	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	13.0	11.8	100.0	0.0
=142	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	13.0	12.8	100.0	0.0
=142	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	13.0	10.2	95.5	2.6
146	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	12.9	13.6	100.0	0.0
147	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	12.8	12.9	100.0	0.0
148	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	12.7	12.8	100.0	0.0
=149	Brazil`BRA`South America	12.5	14.1	100.0	0.0
=149	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	12.5	11.9	100.0	0.0
151	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	12.3	11.6	100.0	0.1
152	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	12.1	9.9	98.3	0.0
=153	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	12.0	12.2	100.0	0.0
=153	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	12.0	11.9	100.0	0.0
=153	Suriname`SUR`South America	12.0	12.0	100.0	0.0
156	Uruguay`URY`South America	11.7	10.1	100.0	0.0
=157	Belize`BLZ`Central America	11.6	12.0	100.0	0.0
=157	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	11.6	11.9	99.7	0.0
159	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	11.5	12.2	100.0	0.0
160	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	11.3	9.2	99.9	0.0
=161	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	11.1	11.6	100.0	0.0
=161	United States`USA`Northern America	11.1	6.6	99.1	0.0
163	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	11.0	9.8	100.0	0.0
164	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	10.8	10.0	100.0	0.0
165	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	10.7	9.5	95.6	0.0
166	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	10.5	10.2	100.0	0.0
167	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	10.4	10.0	99.7	0.0
=168	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	10.1	9.0	100.0	0.0
=168	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	10.1	9.6	99.4	0.0
170	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	10.0	9.1	100.0	0.0
171	Guyana`GUY`South America	9.9	11.2	100.0	0.0
172	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	9.7	9.2	100.0	0.0
=173	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	8.7	8.7	99.9	0.0
=173	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	8.7	7.2	92.5	0.0
=175	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	8.6	8.1	99.8	0.0
=175	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	8.6	5.3	95.7	0.0
177	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	8.5	7.6	98.6	0.0
=178	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	8.4	8.3	99.5	0.0
=178	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	8.4	8.2	97.9	0.0
180	Canada`CAN`Northern America	8.2	3.7	94.5	0.0
181	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	8.0	7.6	100.0	0.0
=182	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	7.8	5.5	96.1	0.0
=182	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	7.8	7.3	100.0	0.0
=184	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	7.7	7.6	100.0	0.0
=184	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	7.7	7.7	100.0	0.0
186	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	7.3	6.7	99.0	0.0
187	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	7.2	7.2	98.5	0.0
188	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	7.0	4.5	78.6	0.0
189	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	6.8	5.7	67.8	0.0
190	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	6.7	6.3	91.3	0.0
191	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	6.6	6.4	96.8	0.0
=192	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	6.4	6.4	94.5	0.0
=192	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	6.4	6.2	99.5	0.0
194	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	6.3	6.0	97.0	0.0
195	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	6.2	6.2	96.8	0.0
=196	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	6.1	5.4	80.0	0.0
=196	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	6.1	6.0	99.3	0.0
198	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	5.9	6.9	94.7	0.0
199	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	4.9	4.7	36.2	0.0
200	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	4.8	4.8	29.5	0.0
201	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	4.5	4.0	28.9	0.0
202	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	4.3	4.3	3.7	0.0
203	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	4.2	3.3	16.8	0.0
204	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	4.1	4.0	1.6	0.0
=205	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	3.5	3.4	0.0	0.0
=205	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	3.5	3.0	18.9	0.0
=205	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	3.5	3.5	0.0	0.0
=208	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	3.4	3.3	0.0	0.0
=208	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	3.4	3.3	0.0	0.0
210	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	3.2	3.3	0.0	0.0
=211	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	3.1	3.0	0.0	0.0
=211	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	3.1	3.1	0.0	0.0
213	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	2.8	2.7	0.0	0.0
=214	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	2.7	2.5	0.0	0.0
=214	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	2.7	2.8	0.0	0.0
216	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	2.6	2.5	0.0	0.0
217	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	2.4	1.3	0.0	0.0
=218	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	2.0	2.1	0.0	0.0
=218	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	2.0	-2.1	0.0	0.0
220	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	1.8	0.9	0.0	0.0

02In 2006

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar72.2
2Saudi Arabia59.5
3Bangladesh58.6
4Kuwait53.4
5Lesotho52.1

Lowest

220Greenland1.8
218French Polynesiashared2.0
218Cook Islandsshared2.0
217Marshall Islands2.4
216Niue2.6

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 16.0. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar78.9
LowestFrench Polynesia-2.1
Middle country: 14.9
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest160 share it
Lowest15 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
HighestQatar100.0
Lowest139 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032005 → 2006

Since 2005

+0 / −0countries joined / left
219values changed, of 220 in both
131 · 88rose · fell
1unchanged

Rose most

Saudi Arabia44.5 → 59.5+15.0
Oman30.1 → 42.1+12.0
Singapore19.7 → 27.7+8.0
Iraq33.9 → 41.0+7.1
Kyrgyzstan17.3 → 23.7+6.4

Fell most

Cameroon45.2 → 36.6−8.6
Burkina Faso39.3 → 31.1−8.2
Egypt52.6 → 44.9−7.7
Bangladesh65.1 → 58.6−6.5
Guatemala26.5 → 20.1−6.4

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

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

169 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 16.1. 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-2006-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 (2006). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2006 [data set], describing 2006. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2006

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2005
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2007
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