Data for 2008

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2008

Name: PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2008
Creator: Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis
License: https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/datasets/surface-pm2-5/

Figures for 2008, 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, 2008 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 89.9; French Polynesia is lowest, at 2.0. The middle country reads 16.0. Against 2007, 210 values changed (103 up, 107 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2008

HighestQatar

89.9

LowestFrench Polynesia

2.0

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

220countries
4measures per country
2008the year it describes
164distinct 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, 2008, 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.

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Showing 25 of 220 countries · select a heading to sort

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2008: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	89.9	107.8	100.0	100.0
2	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	66.6	66.5	100.0	100.0
3	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	61.3	67.9	100.0	89.6
4	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	61.0	55.3	100.0	94.0
5	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	56.9	59.7	100.0	99.6
6	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	56.0	42.2	100.0	79.2
7	Niger`NER`Western Africa	52.2	46.7	100.0	98.9
8	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	51.2	55.6	100.0	99.0
9	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	50.0	41.5	100.0	79.8
10	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	49.4	39.1	100.0	77.5
11	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	48.8	49.4	100.0	77.5
12	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	48.5	28.9	100.0	79.3
13	India`IND`Southern Asia	47.9	39.9	100.0	66.5
14	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	45.2	39.6	100.0	73.5
15	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	42.7	43.5	100.0	96.7
16	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	42.2	43.8	100.0	92.7
17	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	41.6	30.3	100.0	57.1
18	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	41.2	43.2	100.0	67.6
19	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	39.1	40.7	100.0	81.0
20	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	38.4	29.5	100.0	56.4
21	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	37.6	42.9	100.0	34.9
22	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	36.7	34.9	100.0	48.8
=23	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	36.2	37.8	100.0	58.0
=23	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	36.2	34.2	100.0	46.5
=25	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	35.0	34.1	100.0	36.3
=25	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	35.0	32.7	100.0	36.6
27	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	34.8	34.7	100.0	44.8
28	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	34.6	29.9	100.0	41.8
29	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	32.8	30.2	100.0	27.0
30	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	31.6	33.4	100.0	29.4
31	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	31.4	32.2	100.0	32.7
=32	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	31.3	24.8	100.0	25.6
=32	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	31.3	31.1	100.0	21.6
34	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	30.9	30.2	100.0	21.2
35	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	30.6	28.4	100.0	4.8
=36	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	30.2	25.2	100.0	27.2
=36	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	30.2	24.0	100.0	28.6
38	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	29.5	28.5	100.0	4.2
=39	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	28.8	26.6	100.0	13.2
=39	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	28.8	27.9	100.0	12.7
=41	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	28.7	30.1	100.0	5.0
=41	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	28.7	19.0	100.0	29.0
43	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	28.0	25.3	100.0	31.2
44	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	27.6	27.1	100.0	17.4
45	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	27.4	25.9	100.0	0.9
46	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	27.2	22.3	100.0	12.3
47	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	27.0	23.6	100.0	10.5
=48	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	26.7	25.9	100.0	9.3
=48	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	26.7	29.2	100.0	8.9
50	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	26.5	19.5	99.8	25.1
=51	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	25.6	22.4	100.0	8.7
=51	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	25.6	21.1	100.0	9.3
53	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	25.5	23.5	100.0	13.8
54	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	25.1	24.3	100.0	0.0
55	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	25.0	23.3	100.0	0.0
56	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	24.9	24.5	100.0	0.2
=57	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	24.7	21.1	100.0	6.9
=57	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	24.7	22.2	100.0	0.0
=57	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	24.7	22.7	100.0	6.6
60	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	24.5	23.0	100.0	0.0
61	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	24.0	26.8	100.0	5.7
62	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	23.6	20.6	100.0	0.7
63	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	22.8	14.8	100.0	11.5
64	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	22.6	14.9	100.0	10.6
65	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	22.5	21.1	100.0	0.3
=66	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	22.4	17.0	100.0	10.0
=66	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	22.4	20.8	100.0	3.3
68	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	22.2	20.0	100.0	2.2
69	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	21.9	17.9	100.0	0.8
70	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	21.6	22.1	100.0	1.3
71	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	21.2	20.4	100.0	0.0
72	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	21.0	21.0	100.0	0.0
=73	Honduras`HND`Central America	20.8	16.6	100.0	0.7
=73	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	20.8	27.6	100.0	2.2
75	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	20.7	18.9	100.0	0.4
76	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	20.6	19.0	100.0	1.0
77	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	20.5	18.0	100.0	0.5
78	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	19.9	18.7	100.0	7.7
79	Bolivia`BOL`South America	19.4	16.1	100.0	1.3
80	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	19.3	20.0	100.0	0.0
81	Chile`CHL`South America	19.2	14.1	99.9	0.2
82	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	19.1	17.9	100.0	0.0
83	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	18.9	18.7	100.0	0.0
84	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	18.8	23.1	100.0	0.2
85	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	18.7	19.3	100.0	0.0
86	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	18.5	18.9	100.0	0.0
87	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	18.4	16.4	100.0	0.0
88	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	18.2	15.5	100.0	0.2
89	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	18.0	15.6	100.0	0.0
=90	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	17.9	17.3	100.0	0.0
=90	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	17.9	13.9	100.0	0.0
92	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	17.6	19.1	100.0	0.0
=93	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	17.5	10.4	99.6	0.6
=93	Peru`PER`South America	17.5	15.1	100.0	1.3
=93	Venezuela`VEN`South America	17.5	14.3	100.0	0.0
=96	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	17.4	15.6	100.0	0.0
=96	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	17.4	16.6	100.0	0.0
98	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	17.3	14.1	100.0	0.0
=99	Northern Cyprus`XNC`Western Asia	17.2	16.8	100.0	0.0
=99	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	17.2	14.3	100.0	0.4
=99	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	17.2	15.9	100.0	0.0
102	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	16.8	13.0	99.9	2.8
=103	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	16.7	14.4	100.0	0.0
=103	Mexico`MEX`Central America	16.7	10.6	100.0	0.0
105	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	16.6	15.3	100.0	0.0
106	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	16.4	15.8	100.0	0.0
=107	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	16.2	14.9	100.0	0.7
=107	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	16.2	17.4	100.0	0.0
109	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	16.1	15.0	100.0	0.0
=110	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	16.0	10.9	98.9	12.2
=110	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	16.0	13.5	100.0	0.0
=110	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	16.0	15.3	100.0	0.5
=113	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	15.9	15.0	100.0	0.0
=113	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	15.9	15.4	100.0	0.0
115	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	15.8	17.0	100.0	0.0
=116	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	15.6	15.3	100.0	0.0
=116	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	15.6	14.4	100.0	0.0
118	Colombia`COL`South America	15.5	15.5	100.0	0.0
=119	Ecuador`ECU`South America	15.4	14.2	99.9	0.0
=119	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	15.4	16.0	100.0	0.0
=121	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	15.1	10.5	99.1	0.0
=121	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	15.1	14.7	100.0	0.0
=123	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	14.8	10.5	100.0	0.0
=123	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	14.8	17.0	100.0	0.0
=125	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	14.7	24.0	100.0	0.4
=125	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	14.7	14.6	100.0	0.6
127	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	14.6	13.7	100.0	0.0
128	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	14.5	13.0	100.0	0.0
129	Panama`PAN`Central America	14.4	13.3	100.0	0.0
130	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	14.3	12.8	100.0	0.0
131	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	14.2	13.8	100.0	0.2
132	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	14.1	14.6	100.0	0.0
133	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	13.9	12.9	100.0	0.0
134	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	13.7	7.4	97.8	0.0
=135	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	13.6	10.8	100.0	0.0
=135	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	13.6	12.6	100.0	0.0
=137	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	13.5	11.0	100.0	0.0
=137	France`FRA`Western Europe	13.5	11.6	99.9	0.0
=137	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	13.5	15.8	100.0	0.4
140	Argentina`ARG`South America	13.2	11.4	100.0	1.8
141	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	13.0	10.6	100.0	0.0
=142	Brazil`BRA`South America	12.8	13.7	100.0	0.1
=142	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	12.8	12.4	100.0	0.0
=142	Suriname`SUR`South America	12.8	12.2	100.0	0.0
=145	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	12.7	12.4	100.0	0.0
=145	Uruguay`URY`South America	12.7	9.1	100.0	0.0
147	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	12.6	12.2	100.0	0.0
148	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	12.3	9.8	100.0	0.0
149	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	12.2	12.8	100.0	0.0
150	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	11.9	11.1	100.0	0.0
151	Paraguay`PRY`South America	11.8	11.8	100.0	0.0
152	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	11.7	11.1	100.0	0.0
=153	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	11.4	11.6	100.0	0.0
=153	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	11.4	9.0	99.8	0.0
155	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	11.3	12.1	99.6	0.0
=156	Guyana`GUY`South America	11.2	11.9	100.0	0.0
=156	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	11.2	8.9	99.8	0.0
158	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	10.9	10.5	100.0	0.0
=159	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	10.4	10.0	100.0	0.0
=159	United States`USA`Northern America	10.4	6.3	99.2	0.0
161	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	10.3	9.2	96.0	0.0
162	Belize`BLZ`Central America	10.0	10.5	100.0	0.0
163	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	9.9	8.5	100.0	0.0
=164	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	9.5	8.4	100.0	0.0
=164	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	9.5	7.8	99.5	0.0
=166	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	9.2	9.0	100.0	0.0
=166	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	9.2	8.5	100.0	0.0
168	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	8.9	8.0	100.0	0.0
169	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	8.8	8.7	100.0	0.0
=170	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	8.7	8.4	100.0	0.0
=170	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	8.7	8.2	99.9	0.0
172	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	8.0	8.1	100.0	0.0
173	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	7.9	7.7	100.0	0.0
=174	Canada`CAN`Northern America	7.8	4.0	94.1	0.0
=174	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	7.8	7.4	98.5	0.0
=176	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	7.6	7.0	98.7	0.0
=176	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	7.6	7.5	99.2	0.0
=178	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	7.5	7.0	100.0	0.0
=178	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	7.5	7.4	95.5	0.0
=180	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	7.4	7.1	99.5	0.0
=180	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	7.4	6.5	83.6	0.0
182	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	7.2	7.2	98.1	0.0
183	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	7.1	4.0	87.1	0.0
=184	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	6.9	6.3	98.8	0.0
=184	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	6.9	6.7	99.8	0.0
186	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	6.8	5.9	79.4	0.0
=187	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	6.5	6.5	98.7	0.0
=187	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	6.5	6.4	99.5	0.0
=187	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	6.5	6.6	100.0	0.0
190	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	6.4	6.3	95.6	0.0
191	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	6.3	6.3	89.3	0.0
=192	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	6.2	5.1	62.4	0.0
=192	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	6.2	5.7	97.0	0.0
194	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	6.0	3.7	69.7	0.0
195	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	5.8	5.5	94.1	0.0
=196	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	5.7	5.3	84.2	0.0
=196	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	5.7	4.0	65.8	0.0
=198	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	5.4	5.3	69.9	0.0
=198	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	5.4	5.4	84.6	0.0
=200	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	4.4	4.3	4.0	0.0
=200	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	4.4	4.2	6.7	0.0
202	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	4.3	4.1	7.3	0.0
203	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	4.2	4.4	4.7	0.0
204	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	4.0	3.9	0.4	0.0
205	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	3.9	3.8	0.0	0.0
=206	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	3.7	3.1	20.2	0.0
=206	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	3.7	3.6	0.3	0.0
208	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	3.6	3.1	10.5	0.0
=209	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	3.4	3.5	0.0	0.0
=209	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	3.4	3.3	0.0	0.0
211	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	3.3	3.3	0.0	0.0
212	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	3.1	3.2	0.0	0.0
=213	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	3.0	2.9	0.0	0.0
=213	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	3.0	1.8	0.1	0.0
=213	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	3.0	3.0	0.0	0.0
=213	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	3.0	3.0	0.0	0.0
217	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	2.9	2.9	0.0	0.0
218	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	2.2	2.3	0.0	0.0
219	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	2.1	1.4	0.0	0.0
220	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	2.0	-2.0	0.0	0.0

02In 2008

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar89.9
2Kuwait66.6
3Lesotho61.3
4Bangladesh61.0
5Bahrain56.9

Lowest

220French Polynesia2.0
219Greenland2.1
218Cook Islands2.2
217Micronesia2.9
213Naurushared3.0

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)
HighestQatar107.8
LowestFrench Polynesia-2.0
Middle country: 14.8
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest159 share it
Lowest12 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
Highest2 share it
Lowest131 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032007 → 2008

Since 2007

+0 / −0countries joined / left
210values changed, of 220 in both
103 · 107rose · fell
10unchanged

Rose most

Kuwait54.7 → 66.6+11.9
Iraq38.3 → 45.2+6.9
Egypt43.1 → 49.4+6.3
Turkmenistan25.9 → 31.4+5.5
Togo37.4 → 42.7+5.3

Fell most

Niger62.4 → 52.2−10.2
Lesotho69.5 → 61.3−8.2
Paraguay19.0 → 11.8−7.2
Gambia39.4 → 32.8−6.6
Laos31.0 → 24.5−6.5

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

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

164 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 3.0. 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-2008-nations-inquiry.csv
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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 (2008). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2008 [data set], describing 2008. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2008

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2007
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2009
220 countries
All of them
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure: every year
26 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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