Data for 2014

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2014

Name: PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2014
Creator: Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis
License: https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/datasets/surface-pm2-5/

Figures for 2014, 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, 2014 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 78.1; Greenland is lowest, at 2.1. The middle country reads 15.9. Against 2013, 208 values changed (102 up, 106 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2014

HighestQatar

78.1

LowestGreenland

2.1

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

220countries
4measures per country
2014the year it describes
171distinct 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, 2014, 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, 2014: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	78.1	88.3	100.0	100.0
2	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	77.1	70.3	100.0	97.1
3	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	67.0	75.1	100.0	90.2
4	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	53.5	31.7	100.0	82.5
5	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	52.7	33.7	100.0	94.2
6	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	52.2	42.8	100.0	87.5
7	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	51.1	47.3	100.0	95.7
8	India`IND`Southern Asia	50.7	43.5	100.0	77.7
9	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	48.9	55.5	100.0	94.9
10	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	47.9	35.5	100.0	61.7
11	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	42.2	37.7	100.0	79.8
12	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	41.8	42.6	100.0	88.7
13	Niger`NER`Western Africa	41.5	43.1	100.0	73.0
14	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	41.0	49.7	100.0	70.8
15	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	39.8	39.8	100.0	81.7
16	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	37.9	27.9	100.0	31.3
17	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	37.7	30.4	100.0	48.0
18	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	37.4	31.1	100.0	62.3
19	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	36.3	40.7	100.0	42.5
20	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	35.0	35.8	100.0	43.1
=21	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	34.9	29.9	100.0	38.2
=21	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	34.9	35.6	100.0	41.7
23	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	34.7	30.6	100.0	44.0
24	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	33.7	33.2	100.0	40.4
25	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	32.8	29.4	100.0	29.9
=26	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	32.2	30.5	100.0	33.0
=26	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	32.2	27.5	100.0	36.1
28	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	32.1	31.5	100.0	29.2
29	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	31.4	37.4	100.0	17.4
=30	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	30.6	28.3	100.0	16.0
=30	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	30.6	29.7	100.0	43.0
32	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	30.4	32.5	100.0	16.2
33	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	30.3	23.3	100.0	34.8
34	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	30.1	25.8	100.0	18.2
35	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	29.7	25.9	100.0	23.2
36	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	29.4	26.6	100.0	12.3
37	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	29.2	27.6	100.0	9.3
38	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	28.9	31.5	100.0	16.6
39	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	28.8	27.2	100.0	8.0
40	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	28.6	28.3	100.0	12.0
41	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	28.4	23.4	100.0	12.7
42	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	28.0	25.7	100.0	4.8
43	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	27.8	28.2	100.0	3.1
44	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	27.6	26.1	100.0	23.4
45	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	27.5	26.7	100.0	16.2
46	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	27.0	27.9	100.0	11.0
47	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	26.8	28.4	100.0	1.0
48	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	26.7	26.0	100.0	7.6
49	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	26.4	21.8	100.0	13.5
50	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	26.3	22.0	100.0	11.1
51	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	26.2	15.8	100.0	27.4
52	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	25.8	26.2	100.0	6.7
53	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	25.7	18.5	99.1	24.3
54	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	25.6	17.2	100.0	10.7
55	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	24.6	23.5	100.0	7.7
=56	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	24.5	26.8	100.0	7.1
=56	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	24.5	22.8	100.0	0.0
58	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	24.3	14.6	100.0	14.8
59	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	24.2	24.0	100.0	4.2
60	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	23.9	22.5	100.0	0.5
61	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	23.3	19.6	100.0	5.7
62	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	23.2	16.9	100.0	4.8
63	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	22.9	22.3	100.0	0.0
64	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	22.4	22.9	100.0	0.2
65	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	22.3	22.1	100.0	3.0
66	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	22.0	19.6	100.0	0.9
67	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	21.7	19.6	100.0	5.0
68	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	21.4	14.9	100.0	0.1
69	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	21.1	24.6	100.0	0.6
70	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	20.9	19.0	100.0	6.8
71	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	20.6	20.3	100.0	0.0
72	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	20.4	21.9	100.0	0.0
=73	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	20.2	15.7	100.0	3.8
=73	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	20.2	17.9	100.0	8.0
75	Bolivia`BOL`South America	20.1	16.1	100.0	7.0
76	Honduras`HND`Central America	19.9	16.0	100.0	0.0
77	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	19.6	17.8	100.0	0.1
=78	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	19.5	17.7	100.0	0.0
=78	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	19.5	21.8	100.0	0.1
80	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	19.4	18.8	100.0	0.1
81	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	19.2	18.8	100.0	0.0
82	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	19.1	18.0	100.0	0.0
83	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	18.9	16.9	100.0	0.1
84	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	18.8	18.8	100.0	0.0
85	Chile`CHL`South America	18.7	16.0	99.9	1.0
86	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	18.4	14.1	100.0	2.2
87	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	18.1	15.1	100.0	0.0
88	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	17.9	17.7	100.0	0.0
89	Ecuador`ECU`South America	17.8	15.0	99.9	0.8
=90	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	17.7	15.3	100.0	0.0
=90	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	17.7	17.2	100.0	0.0
=90	Venezuela`VEN`South America	17.7	13.6	100.0	0.0
=93	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	17.6	16.2	100.0	0.0
=93	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	17.6	17.6	100.0	0.0
=95	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	17.5	18.5	100.0	0.2
=95	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	17.5	12.9	100.0	0.5
97	Northern Cyprus`XNC`Western Asia	17.3	17.2	100.0	0.0
98	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	17.1	16.0	100.0	0.0
99	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	17.0	16.8	100.0	0.0
=100	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	16.9	15.4	100.0	0.0
=100	Colombia`COL`South America	16.9	14.5	99.8	0.0
=100	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	16.9	15.8	100.0	0.0
103	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	16.8	15.7	100.0	0.0
104	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	16.7	18.0	100.0	0.0
105	Peru`PER`South America	16.5	14.3	100.0	1.6
=106	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	16.1	14.7	100.0	0.0
=106	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	16.1	13.4	100.0	0.0
=106	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	16.1	19.8	100.0	0.1
=106	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	16.1	14.8	100.0	0.0
110	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	16.0	13.8	100.0	1.1
111	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	15.7	12.7	100.0	0.1
=112	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	15.6	13.9	100.0	0.0
=112	Mexico`MEX`Central America	15.6	9.1	99.7	0.0
=114	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	15.4	16.1	100.0	0.0
=114	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	15.4	18.1	99.9	0.0
116	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	15.0	13.6	100.0	0.0
117	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	14.8	11.4	99.9	0.0
=118	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	14.5	24.6	100.0	0.5
=118	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	14.5	13.0	100.0	0.0
=118	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	14.5	7.9	97.7	0.0
=121	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	14.4	12.5	100.0	0.0
=121	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	14.4	12.2	100.0	0.0
123	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	14.3	13.9	100.0	0.0
124	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	13.9	11.4	100.0	0.0
125	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	13.7	12.0	100.0	0.0
126	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	13.6	13.7	100.0	0.2
127	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	13.5	13.1	100.0	0.0
=128	Panama`PAN`Central America	13.4	13.3	100.0	0.0
=128	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	13.4	15.0	100.0	0.1
=130	Argentina`ARG`South America	13.2	11.9	99.7	0.1
=130	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	13.2	11.6	100.0	0.0
=132	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	13.0	9.4	100.0	0.0
=132	Suriname`SUR`South America	13.0	11.6	100.0	0.0
=134	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	12.8	12.0	100.0	0.0
=134	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	12.8	12.1	100.0	0.0
=136	Brazil`BRA`South America	12.7	13.9	99.8	0.0
=136	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	12.7	11.8	99.8	0.0
=138	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	12.6	10.2	100.0	0.0
=138	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	12.6	12.7	100.0	0.0
=140	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	12.5	11.2	100.0	0.0
=140	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	12.5	11.7	100.0	0.0
=142	Guyana`GUY`South America	12.4	12.1	100.0	0.0
=142	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	12.4	10.0	100.0	0.0
=142	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	12.4	12.0	100.0	0.0
=142	Uruguay`URY`South America	12.4	10.1	100.0	0.0
146	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	12.3	11.0	100.0	0.3
147	Paraguay`PRY`South America	12.2	10.9	100.0	0.0
=148	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	12.0	14.3	100.0	0.0
=148	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	12.0	11.2	100.0	0.0
150	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	11.9	12.9	100.0	0.0
=151	Belize`BLZ`Central America	11.8	12.1	100.0	0.0
=151	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	11.8	11.6	100.0	0.0
=151	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	11.8	11.7	100.0	0.0
154	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	11.6	10.7	100.0	0.0
=155	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	11.4	10.7	100.0	0.0
=155	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	11.4	8.9	99.9	0.0
157	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	11.3	8.4	91.5	0.0
=158	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	11.1	9.9	100.0	0.0
=158	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	11.1	11.2	100.0	0.0
160	France`FRA`Western Europe	11.0	8.9	99.8	0.0
161	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	10.6	9.8	100.0	0.0
=162	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	10.4	10.0	100.0	0.0
=162	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	10.4	9.2	96.9	2.0
164	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	10.1	9.8	99.8	0.0
=165	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	9.9	8.5	99.9	0.0
=165	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	9.9	7.9	99.8	0.0
=167	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	9.7	9.8	100.0	0.0
=167	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	9.7	7.6	99.4	0.0
169	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	9.6	9.2	100.0	0.0
170	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	9.4	9.4	100.0	0.0
171	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	9.1	9.1	100.0	0.0
172	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	8.9	7.7	100.0	0.0
173	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	8.6	7.5	99.7	0.0
=174	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	8.5	6.9	96.8	0.0
=174	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	8.5	7.9	100.0	0.0
=176	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	8.4	8.2	99.9	0.0
=176	United States`USA`Northern America	8.4	5.3	97.5	0.0
178	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	8.3	7.5	99.8	0.0
179	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	7.7	7.8	95.3	0.0
180	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	7.6	7.8	99.7	0.0
181	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	7.5	4.5	90.5	0.0
=182	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	7.4	6.9	100.0	0.0
=182	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	7.4	7.4	92.5	0.0
184	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	7.3	7.0	91.7	0.0
185	Canada`CAN`Northern America	7.2	4.7	92.6	0.0
186	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	6.9	7.1	97.8	0.0
187	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	6.7	6.8	99.9	0.0
188	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	6.6	6.4	98.5	0.0
=189	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	6.5	6.4	92.1	0.0
=189	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	6.5	4.5	84.0	0.0
=191	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	6.4	5.7	93.4	0.0
=191	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	6.4	6.2	97.5	0.0
193	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	6.2	5.7	82.8	0.0
=194	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	6.1	5.7	87.5	0.0
=194	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	6.1	4.0	74.1	0.0
=194	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	6.1	5.8	95.7	0.0
197	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	5.6	5.6	85.1	0.0
198	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	5.4	5.5	73.9	0.0
199	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	5.3	4.7	50.7	0.0
200	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	5.2	5.1	82.1	0.0
201	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	5.0	5.1	49.0	0.0
202	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	4.9	4.8	14.3	0.0
203	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	4.6	4.0	28.0	0.0
204	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	4.3	4.4	12.8	0.0
=205	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	4.0	3.8	0.6	0.0
=205	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	4.0	4.0	8.7	0.0
207	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	3.8	4.0	0.7	0.0
=208	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	3.7	3.6	0.0	0.0
=208	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	3.7	3.4	0.0	0.0
210	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	3.5	3.4	0.0	0.0
=211	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	3.4	3.2	0.2	0.0
=211	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	3.4	3.5	0.0	0.0
213	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	3.2	3.3	0.0	0.0
214	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	3.1	3.3	0.0	0.0
215	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	3.0	3.0	0.0	0.0
216	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	2.8	1.6	0.0	0.0
=217	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	2.4	-1.7	0.0	0.0
=217	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	2.4	2.4	0.0	0.0
219	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	2.2	2.3	0.0	0.0
220	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	2.1	1.0	0.0	0.0

02In 2014

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar78.1
2Bangladesh77.1
3Lesotho67.0
4China53.5
5Egypt52.7

Lowest

220Greenland2.1
219Cook Islands2.2
217French Polynesiashared2.4
217Niueshared2.4
216Marshall Islands2.8

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 15.9. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar88.3
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.7
Middle country: 14.2
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest155 share it
Lowest12 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
HighestQatar100.0
Lowest130 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032013 → 2014

Since 2013

+0 / −0countries joined / left
208values changed, of 220 in both
102 · 106rose · fell
12unchanged

Rose most

Uganda28.8 → 42.2+13.4
Burundi29.5 → 39.8+10.3
Lesotho58.0 → 67.0+9.0
North Korea24.8 → 32.2+7.4
Bangladesh70.3 → 77.1+6.8

Fell most

Saudi Arabia64.1 → 47.9−16.2
Bahrain57.3 → 48.9−8.4
Kuwait59.5 → 51.1−8.4
Sudan36.4 → 28.6−7.8
Yemen34.4 → 26.7−7.7

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

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

171 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-2014-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 (2014). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2014 [data set], describing 2014. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2014

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2013
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2015
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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