Data for 2011

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2011

Name: PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2011
Creator: Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis
License: https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/datasets/surface-pm2-5/

Figures for 2011, 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, 2011 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 85.4; Greenland is lowest, at 2.1. The middle country reads 16.4. Against 2010, 217 values changed (105 up, 112 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2011

HighestQatar

85.4

LowestGreenland

2.1

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

220countries
4measures per country
2011the year it describes
170distinct 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, 2011, 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, 2011: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	85.4	107.1	100.0	100.0
2	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	74.0	67.6	100.0	96.5
3	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	63.2	57.8	100.0	100.0
4	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	60.8	49.3	100.0	88.8
5	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	60.7	71.6	100.0	91.1
6	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	54.5	34.1	100.0	91.2
7	Niger`NER`Western Africa	52.8	47.9	100.0	99.2
8	India`IND`Southern Asia	51.7	43.0	100.0	71.0
=9	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	50.7	53.1	100.0	97.2
=9	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	50.7	30.1	100.0	80.7
11	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	47.1	39.5	100.0	81.3
12	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	46.4	54.4	100.0	96.9
13	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	41.9	36.6	100.0	71.0
14	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	40.3	41.1	100.0	76.9
15	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	39.3	32.3	100.0	66.2
16	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	38.4	39.5	100.0	52.7
=17	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	36.5	28.9	100.0	39.5
=17	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	36.5	38.5	100.0	57.2
19	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	35.9	36.5	100.0	46.1
20	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	35.5	41.4	100.0	27.5
21	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	35.4	35.7	100.0	50.4
22	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	35.2	33.4	100.0	41.0
23	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	34.4	34.6	100.0	40.5
24	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	34.0	27.6	100.0	34.0
25	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	33.7	33.1	100.0	28.9
26	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	32.3	31.9	100.0	21.4
27	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	32.1	30.0	100.0	23.8
28	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	31.9	29.8	100.0	17.1
29	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	31.7	30.8	100.0	30.0
30	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	31.0	27.0	100.0	24.9
31	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	30.7	31.5	100.0	9.2
32	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	30.2	17.7	100.0	36.3
33	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	29.9	30.2	100.0	40.3
34	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	29.4	28.9	100.0	3.0
=35	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	29.3	28.9	100.0	15.2
=35	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	29.3	25.7	100.0	23.0
=35	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	29.3	33.3	100.0	13.8
=38	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	29.0	29.8	100.0	12.6
=38	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	29.0	25.1	100.0	7.9
=40	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	28.9	28.1	100.0	7.8
=40	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	28.9	26.0	100.0	34.5
42	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	28.6	21.6	99.5	29.0
43	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	28.5	23.2	100.0	19.7
44	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	28.4	27.2	100.0	5.8
=45	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	28.3	23.3	100.0	20.1
=45	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	28.3	27.0	100.0	0.2
47	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	27.6	26.2	100.0	10.9
48	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	27.4	27.1	100.0	11.6
49	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	27.3	25.7	100.0	0.6
50	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	26.9	22.8	100.0	7.3
51	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	26.1	25.9	100.0	9.1
52	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	25.9	24.2	100.0	14.1
53	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	25.8	13.7	100.0	16.8
=54	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	25.7	23.2	100.0	1.9
=54	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	25.7	26.0	100.0	0.0
=56	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	25.6	23.0	100.0	8.0
=56	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	25.6	28.2	100.0	10.2
58	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	25.2	22.1	100.0	2.8
=59	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	24.6	23.7	100.0	1.0
=59	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	24.6	23.0	100.0	8.4
61	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	24.3	21.5	100.0	6.7
62	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	24.2	21.4	100.0	12.8
63	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	23.6	22.6	100.0	0.1
64	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	23.4	23.3	100.0	3.0
65	Honduras`HND`Central America	23.3	17.9	100.0	3.0
66	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	22.9	18.7	100.0	0.9
67	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	22.4	21.8	100.0	0.0
68	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	22.2	26.1	100.0	5.2
69	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	22.1	20.9	100.0	0.0
70	Bolivia`BOL`South America	21.9	18.1	100.0	3.1
71	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	21.5	17.9	100.0	1.6
72	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	21.2	20.0	100.0	0.0
73	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	21.1	21.3	100.0	0.0
=74	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	21.0	19.6	100.0	0.0
=74	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	21.0	21.5	100.0	2.5
76	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	20.9	20.9	100.0	0.0
=77	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	20.7	19.8	100.0	0.3
=77	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	20.7	14.7	100.0	0.0
79	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	20.6	18.5	100.0	0.0
80	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	20.3	20.2	100.0	0.7
81	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	20.2	21.0	100.0	0.0
82	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	20.1	19.9	100.0	0.0
=83	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	19.9	18.8	100.0	0.0
=83	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	19.9	16.8	100.0	0.0
85	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	19.8	20.9	100.0	0.0
86	Chile`CHL`South America	19.5	17.6	99.9	0.9
87	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	19.2	16.6	100.0	0.3
=88	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	19.1	14.5	99.9	0.0
=88	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	19.1	19.9	100.0	0.0
90	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	19.0	18.3	100.0	0.0
=91	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	18.3	21.4	100.0	0.1
=91	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	18.3	17.5	100.0	0.0
93	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	18.1	13.2	99.9	0.2
94	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	18.0	17.9	100.0	0.0
95	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	17.9	18.0	100.0	0.0
96	Venezuela`VEN`South America	17.7	14.6	99.9	0.0
=97	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	17.6	12.0	100.0	5.6
=97	Northern Cyprus`XNC`Western Asia	17.6	17.3	100.0	0.0
99	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	17.5	16.6	100.0	0.0
100	Peru`PER`South America	17.3	15.3	100.0	2.0
=101	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	17.2	15.3	100.0	0.0
=101	Mexico`MEX`Central America	17.2	10.8	99.9	0.0
103	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	17.1	15.5	100.0	0.1
104	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	17.0	15.7	100.0	0.0
=105	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	16.8	15.7	100.0	0.0
=105	Ecuador`ECU`South America	16.8	15.7	99.9	0.0
107	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	16.7	13.9	100.0	0.0
108	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	16.5	13.0	100.0	0.5
=109	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	16.4	16.3	100.0	0.0
=109	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	16.4	16.0	100.0	0.0
111	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	16.3	15.8	100.0	0.0
=112	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	16.2	14.8	100.0	0.0
=112	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	16.2	15.5	100.0	0.0
=112	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	16.2	13.0	100.0	1.9
=115	Colombia`COL`South America	16.1	15.3	100.0	0.0
=115	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	16.1	13.6	100.0	0.0
=115	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	16.1	12.6	100.0	4.0
118	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	16.0	16.8	100.0	0.0
119	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	15.9	15.6	100.0	0.4
120	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	15.8	14.4	100.0	0.0
121	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	15.7	15.9	100.0	0.0
=122	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	15.5	12.6	99.8	0.0
=122	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	15.5	19.9	100.0	0.3
124	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	15.1	15.7	100.0	0.0
125	France`FRA`Western Europe	14.8	12.6	99.9	0.0
=126	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	14.7	13.8	100.0	0.0
=126	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	14.7	14.4	100.0	0.0
=126	Panama`PAN`Central America	14.7	13.8	100.0	0.0
129	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	14.6	15.5	100.0	0.0
130	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	14.3	11.3	100.0	0.0
131	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	14.0	12.3	100.0	0.9
=132	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	13.9	13.4	100.0	0.0
=132	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	13.9	10.4	100.0	0.0
134	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	13.8	12.7	100.0	0.0
=135	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	13.6	23.7	100.0	0.5
=135	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	13.6	11.0	98.2	2.4
137	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	13.5	15.5	100.0	0.3
138	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	13.4	12.0	100.0	0.0
=139	Argentina`ARG`South America	13.3	14.3	100.0	1.4
=139	Paraguay`PRY`South America	13.3	12.2	100.0	0.0
=141	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	13.2	12.9	100.0	0.0
=141	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	13.2	12.1	100.0	0.2
=141	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	13.2	12.7	100.0	0.0
=144	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	13.0	12.3	100.0	0.0
=144	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	13.0	9.6	99.4	0.0
=144	Uruguay`URY`South America	13.0	10.0	100.0	0.0
=147	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	12.8	14.3	100.0	0.0
=147	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	12.8	7.5	98.5	0.0
149	Suriname`SUR`South America	12.7	12.9	100.0	0.0
150	Brazil`BRA`South America	12.5	13.3	99.9	0.0
151	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	12.3	9.8	99.9	0.0
152	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	12.2	11.4	100.0	0.0
153	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	12.0	11.6	100.0	0.0
154	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	11.9	11.9	100.0	0.0
=155	Belize`BLZ`Central America	11.5	11.9	100.0	0.0
=155	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	11.5	10.8	100.0	0.0
157	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	11.2	9.2	99.9	0.0
=158	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	11.1	8.9	100.0	0.0
=158	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	11.1	11.6	99.0	0.0
160	Guyana`GUY`South America	11.0	12.0	100.0	0.0
161	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	10.8	10.9	100.0	0.0
162	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	10.6	10.6	100.0	0.0
163	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	10.5	8.8	98.4	0.0
164	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	10.4	9.0	100.0	0.0
165	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	10.1	8.7	97.4	0.0
166	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	10.0	9.4	100.0	0.0
167	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	9.9	8.8	99.7	0.0
168	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	9.5	7.8	90.1	0.0
169	United States`USA`Northern America	9.4	5.8	98.4	0.0
170	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	9.3	9.1	99.9	0.0
171	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	9.2	8.6	99.9	0.0
172	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	9.0	8.7	99.9	0.0
173	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	8.9	8.2	98.6	0.0
174	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	8.8	8.5	100.0	0.0
=175	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	8.7	10.1	95.1	0.0
=175	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	8.7	8.6	100.0	0.0
177	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	8.6	8.8	100.0	0.0
=178	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	8.4	8.2	99.3	0.0
=178	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	8.4	7.2	99.9	0.0
=178	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	8.4	8.4	100.0	0.0
=181	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	8.3	8.3	96.1	0.0
=181	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	8.3	8.0	98.0	0.0
183	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	7.9	7.1	100.0	0.0
184	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	7.7	4.3	87.5	0.0
185	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	7.1	6.9	94.4	0.0
186	Canada`CAN`Northern America	7.0	3.7	88.6	0.0
187	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	6.8	6.5	98.4	0.0
=188	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	6.7	5.8	87.1	0.0
=188	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	6.7	6.4	97.6	0.0
=190	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	6.6	5.5	98.5	0.0
=190	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	6.6	6.1	98.9	0.0
192	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	6.4	3.7	70.4	0.0
193	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	6.3	6.2	100.0	0.0
194	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	6.1	4.5	82.7	0.0
=195	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	5.9	5.9	82.7	0.0
=195	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	5.9	5.6	82.5	0.0
197	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	5.5	5.5	91.2	0.0
198	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	5.4	5.9	66.2	0.0
199	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	5.3	5.5	70.9	0.0
200	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	5.0	4.2	48.5	0.0
=201	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	4.8	4.7	26.3	0.0
=201	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	4.8	4.7	28.0	0.0
=203	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	4.4	4.0	24.4	0.0
=203	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	4.4	4.4	18.0	0.0
=205	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	4.0	4.0	1.2	0.0
=205	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	4.0	4.0	1.1	0.0
=205	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	4.0	3.7	1.3	0.0
208	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	3.7	3.5	0.0	0.0
=209	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	3.4	3.0	0.5	0.0
=209	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	3.4	3.3	0.0	0.0
211	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	3.3	3.5	0.0	0.0
212	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	3.2	1.9	0.1	0.0
213	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	3.1	3.1	0.0	0.0
=214	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	3.0	2.9	0.0	0.0
=214	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	3.0	2.9	0.0	0.0
=214	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	3.0	3.0	0.0	0.0
217	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	2.7	2.6	0.0	0.0
218	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	2.4	2.4	0.0	0.0
219	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	2.2	-1.9	0.0	0.0
220	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	2.1	1.5	0.0	0.0

02In 2011

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar85.4
2Bangladesh74.0
3Kuwait63.2
4Saudi Arabia60.8
5Lesotho60.7

Lowest

220Greenland2.1
219French Polynesia2.2
218Cook Islands2.4
217American Samoa2.7
214Tuvalushared3.0

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 16.4. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar107.1
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.9
Middle country: 15.3
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest154 share it
Lowest11 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

032010 → 2011

Since 2010

+0 / −0countries joined / left
217values changed, of 220 in both
105 · 112rose · fell
3unchanged

Rose most

Honduras18.0 → 23.3+5.3
India46.7 → 51.7+5.0
Kosovo19.6 → 24.6+5.0
Serbia20.9 → 25.7+4.8
Mongolia21.2 → 25.8+4.6

Fell most

Bolivia30.3 → 21.9−8.4
Bahrain58.6 → 50.7−7.9
Libya30.0 → 22.2−7.8
Burundi35.2 → 28.9−6.3
Rwanda35.6 → 29.3−6.3

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

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

170 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 3 countries share 29.3. 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-2011-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 (2011). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2011 [data set], describing 2011. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2011

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2010
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2012
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

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