Data for 2012

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2012

Name: PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2012
Creator: Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis
License: https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/datasets/surface-pm2-5/

Figures for 2012, 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, 2012 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 94.7; Greenland is lowest, at 2.2. The middle country reads 17.4. Against 2011, 214 values changed (143 up, 71 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2012

HighestQatar

94.7

LowestGreenland

2.2

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

220countries
4measures per country
2012the year it describes
174distinct 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, 2012, 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, 2012: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	94.7	112.4	100.0	100.0
2	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	78.6	71.3	100.0	98.9
3	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	69.6	58.3	100.0	97.1
4	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	63.5	61.3	100.0	100.0
5	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	56.6	59.5	100.0	100.0
=6	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	56.2	65.0	100.0	90.9
=6	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	56.2	63.2	100.0	100.0
8	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	54.7	40.1	100.0	93.8
9	India`IND`Southern Asia	51.1	42.0	100.0	70.7
10	Niger`NER`Western Africa	50.6	49.3	100.0	99.1
11	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	50.2	49.5	100.0	99.4
12	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	49.0	41.9	100.0	79.8
13	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	48.1	29.7	100.0	76.6
14	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	47.4	51.3	100.0	98.8
15	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	46.9	42.2	100.0	95.5
16	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	46.8	39.9	100.0	98.1
17	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	43.4	33.0	100.0	58.8
18	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	43.3	34.9	100.0	81.8
19	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	42.4	40.8	100.0	66.4
20	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	41.6	40.9	100.0	68.2
21	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	40.7	42.2	100.0	57.8
22	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	40.5	46.9	100.0	45.7
23	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	40.0	39.9	100.0	68.5
24	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	38.4	35.9	100.0	61.2
25	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	38.3	41.2	100.0	80.5
26	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	36.1	30.5	100.0	34.8
27	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	35.4	32.7	100.0	43.6
28	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	35.2	35.5	100.0	48.6
29	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	34.8	30.2	100.0	50.2
30	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	34.7	33.9	100.0	54.1
31	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	34.5	32.3	100.0	37.8
32	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	34.2	33.7	100.0	44.5
33	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	34.1	33.6	100.0	34.1
34	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	33.2	32.0	100.0	26.2
35	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	33.1	32.1	100.0	20.0
36	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	33.0	35.1	100.0	36.0
37	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	32.5	27.9	100.0	33.3
38	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	31.9	30.9	100.0	46.3
39	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	31.3	34.2	100.0	18.1
40	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	30.7	33.2	100.0	26.5
41	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	30.4	26.8	100.0	8.1
42	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	30.0	30.7	100.0	15.4
43	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	29.6	30.8	100.0	17.7
44	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	29.1	25.6	100.0	23.8
45	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	28.7	29.6	100.0	20.4
46	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	28.5	27.3	100.0	4.7
=47	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	28.4	27.1	100.0	12.6
=47	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	28.4	23.2	100.0	17.0
=49	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	28.2	25.7	100.0	6.1
=49	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	28.2	27.1	100.0	11.2
51	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	27.8	25.2	100.0	29.9
52	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	27.6	26.1	99.8	26.8
53	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	27.5	27.9	100.0	0.4
=54	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	26.8	23.7	100.0	1.9
=54	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	26.8	26.9	100.0	3.9
56	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	26.3	15.9	100.0	13.5
57	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	25.6	22.2	100.0	5.2
=58	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	24.9	19.4	100.0	4.1
=58	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	24.9	24.2	100.0	0.0
60	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	24.8	25.5	100.0	1.8
=61	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	24.4	20.5	100.0	14.9
=61	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	24.4	15.9	100.0	13.6
=63	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	23.8	21.6	100.0	0.5
=63	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	23.8	21.4	100.0	5.3
65	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	23.3	22.4	100.0	0.0
66	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	22.9	18.4	100.0	5.2
67	Honduras`HND`Central America	22.7	17.4	100.0	2.8
68	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	22.6	20.2	100.0	0.5
=69	Bolivia`BOL`South America	22.1	18.8	100.0	0.2
=69	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	22.1	22.2	100.0	1.1
71	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	22.0	20.3	100.0	0.0
72	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	21.7	21.4	100.0	0.0
=73	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	21.5	19.9	100.0	0.0
=73	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	21.5	16.9	100.0	0.0
75	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	21.3	18.2	100.0	7.4
=76	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	21.2	19.3	100.0	0.5
=76	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	21.2	23.5	100.0	0.0
78	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	21.0	20.2	99.5	0.4
79	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	20.7	20.9	100.0	0.9
80	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	20.5	19.2	100.0	0.0
81	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	20.4	27.6	100.0	5.0
=82	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	20.3	20.2	100.0	0.0
=82	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	20.3	19.5	100.0	0.0
84	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	20.2	24.5	100.0	0.2
85	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	20.0	19.4	100.0	0.5
=86	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	19.9	15.9	100.0	2.7
=86	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	19.9	19.9	100.0	0.0
88	Chile`CHL`South America	19.6	16.5	99.8	0.1
89	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	19.5	18.9	100.0	0.0
90	Venezuela`VEN`South America	19.4	15.8	100.0	0.0
91	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	19.2	14.3	100.0	0.0
=92	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	19.1	20.6	100.0	0.0
=92	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	19.1	15.7	100.0	1.1
=92	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	19.1	18.7	100.0	0.0
=92	Peru`PER`South America	19.1	17.0	100.0	1.9
=92	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	19.1	18.1	100.0	0.0
97	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	18.7	15.4	100.0	2.1
98	Colombia`COL`South America	18.6	16.6	100.0	0.0
=99	Ecuador`ECU`South America	18.5	17.5	100.0	0.0
=99	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	18.5	18.9	100.0	0.0
=101	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	18.3	16.9	100.0	0.0
=101	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	18.3	14.5	100.0	0.0
103	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	18.2	14.5	100.0	3.1
104	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	18.0	17.5	100.0	0.0
=105	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	17.7	15.8	100.0	0.0
=105	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	17.7	15.2	100.0	0.0
=105	Northern Cyprus`XNC`Western Asia	17.7	17.2	100.0	0.0
=105	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	17.7	13.8	100.0	0.5
109	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	17.6	13.6	100.0	0.0
=110	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	17.4	17.2	100.0	0.0
=110	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	17.4	14.7	100.0	0.0
112	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	17.2	15.2	100.0	0.0
113	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	17.0	14.8	100.0	0.1
114	Mexico`MEX`Central America	16.7	10.2	99.9	0.0
115	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	16.4	14.2	100.0	0.0
=116	Panama`PAN`Central America	16.3	15.9	100.0	0.0
=116	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	16.3	15.1	100.0	0.0
118	Suriname`SUR`South America	16.2	15.2	100.0	0.0
119	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	16.0	13.6	100.0	0.0
120	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	15.8	14.0	100.0	0.2
121	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	15.7	15.0	100.0	0.0
=122	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	15.6	15.4	100.0	0.2
=122	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	15.6	18.5	99.8	2.6
124	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	15.5	16.1	100.0	0.0
125	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	15.4	15.0	100.0	0.0
126	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	15.3	12.1	100.0	0.0
127	Paraguay`PRY`South America	15.2	15.0	100.0	0.0
128	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	14.8	13.3	100.0	0.0
129	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	14.5	14.7	100.0	0.0
130	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	14.4	13.0	100.0	0.0
=131	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	14.2	10.7	99.0	0.1
=131	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	14.2	19.4	100.0	0.4
=133	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	14.1	14.1	100.0	0.0
=133	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	14.1	13.1	100.0	0.0
=135	Argentina`ARG`South America	14.0	13.5	100.0	0.6
=135	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	14.0	12.9	100.0	0.0
=137	Guyana`GUY`South America	13.9	14.5	100.0	0.0
=137	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	13.9	13.4	100.0	0.0
139	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	13.8	13.3	100.0	0.0
140	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	13.7	11.2	100.0	0.0
=141	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	13.4	11.9	100.0	0.0
=141	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	13.4	13.3	100.0	0.0
=143	France`FRA`Western Europe	13.3	11.1	100.0	0.0
=143	Uruguay`URY`South America	13.3	10.2	100.0	0.0
145	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	13.2	23.5	100.0	0.7
146	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	13.1	14.6	100.0	0.0
147	Brazil`BRA`South America	13.0	15.2	99.6	0.0
148	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	12.7	10.0	95.4	4.4
=149	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	12.6	11.6	100.0	0.0
=149	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	12.6	12.5	100.0	0.0
151	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	12.5	11.4	100.0	0.0
152	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	12.2	9.7	100.0	0.0
=153	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	11.9	11.9	100.0	0.0
=153	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	11.9	11.2	100.0	0.0
155	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	11.8	12.0	100.0	0.0
156	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	11.7	9.8	100.0	0.0
=157	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	11.6	11.2	100.0	0.0
=157	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	11.6	10.9	100.0	0.0
159	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	11.4	10.8	100.0	0.0
160	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	11.3	11.1	100.0	0.0
161	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	11.1	8.8	99.9	0.0
162	Belize`BLZ`Central America	11.0	11.5	100.0	0.0
163	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	10.9	8.5	99.8	0.0
164	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	10.8	10.0	98.2	0.0
165	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	10.7	9.8	100.0	0.0
=166	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	10.4	8.9	100.0	0.0
=166	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	10.4	10.3	100.0	0.0
168	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	10.2	10.4	100.0	0.0
169	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	10.1	9.5	99.9	0.0
170	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	10.0	9.1	99.7	0.0
171	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	9.9	8.2	92.8	0.3
=172	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	9.7	9.4	100.0	0.0
=172	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	9.7	9.0	100.0	0.0
174	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	9.6	8.0	97.2	0.0
175	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	9.5	8.1	100.0	0.0
176	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	9.3	9.2	99.9	0.0
177	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	9.2	9.2	99.6	0.0
178	United States`USA`Northern America	8.9	6.0	99.0	0.0
179	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	8.8	8.5	100.0	0.0
180	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	8.2	7.6	99.9	0.0
181	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	8.1	7.8	99.8	0.0
182	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	7.8	7.7	100.0	0.0
=183	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	7.6	7.2	99.9	0.0
=183	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	7.6	7.7	100.0	0.0
185	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	7.5	7.6	100.0	0.0
186	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	7.2	7.4	100.0	0.0
=187	Canada`CAN`Northern America	7.1	3.9	91.8	0.0
=187	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	7.1	9.0	91.3	0.0
189	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	7.0	6.0	84.8	0.0
=190	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	6.8	5.9	94.5	0.0
=190	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	6.8	6.9	100.0	0.0
192	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	6.7	3.8	86.0	0.0
193	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	6.3	5.1	94.4	0.0
194	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	6.2	4.2	76.4	0.0
=195	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	5.9	5.9	99.2	0.0
=195	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	5.9	5.8	94.7	0.0
=195	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	5.9	3.2	64.5	0.0
=198	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	5.7	6.9	82.0	0.0
=198	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	5.7	5.8	80.9	0.0
200	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	5.2	5.1	78.0	0.0
=201	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	5.0	5.1	49.2	0.0
=201	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	5.0	5.0	45.8	0.0
=203	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	4.6	4.1	31.4	0.0
=203	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	4.6	4.7	22.1	0.0
205	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	4.3	4.1	4.9	0.0
=206	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	3.9	2.9	9.8	0.0
=206	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	3.9	3.4	1.7	0.0
=208	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	3.8	3.8	0.0	0.0
=208	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	3.8	3.8	0.5	0.0
210	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	3.7	3.7	0.0	0.0
211	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	3.6	3.3	0.0	0.0
=212	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	3.5	3.4	0.1	0.0
=212	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	3.5	3.5	0.0	0.0
214	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	3.4	3.5	0.0	0.0
215	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	3.3	3.2	0.0	0.0
216	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	3.2	3.3	0.0	0.0
217	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	2.9	1.7	0.1	0.0
218	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	2.6	2.5	0.0	0.0
219	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	2.4	-1.7	0.0	0.0
220	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	2.2	1.1	0.0	0.0

02In 2012

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar94.7
2Bangladesh78.6
3Saudi Arabia69.6
4Kuwait63.5
5Bahrain56.6

Lowest

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 17.4. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar112.4
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.7
Middle country: 15.3
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest166 share it
Lowest10 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
Highest4 share it
Lowest128 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032011 → 2012

Since 2011

+0 / −0countries joined / left
214values changed, of 220 in both
143 · 71rose · fell
6unchanged

Rose most

Gambia32.1 → 46.8+14.7
Senegal33.7 → 46.9+13.2
Oman36.5 → 47.4+10.9
Mauritania40.3 → 50.2+9.9
United Arab Emirates46.4 → 56.2+9.8

Fell most

Tajikistan30.2 → 24.4−5.8
Afghanistan35.9 → 30.7−5.2
Lesotho60.7 → 56.2−4.5
Denmark13.0 → 9.7−3.3
Albania20.7 → 17.7−3.0

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

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

174 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 5 countries share 19.1. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 220 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

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.csv
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220 rows · 8.1 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download pm25-exposure-2012-nations-inquiry.csv
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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 (2012). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2012 [data set], describing 2012. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2012

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2011
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2013
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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