Data for 2015

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2015

Name: PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2015
Creator: Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis
License: https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/datasets/surface-pm2-5/

Figures for 2015, 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, 2015 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 82.6; Greenland is lowest, at 1.9. The middle country reads 16.5. Against 2014, 213 values changed (130 up, 83 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2015

HighestQatar

82.6

LowestGreenland

1.9

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

220countries
4measures per country
2015the year it describes
172distinct 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, 2015, 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, 2015: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	82.6	90.4	100.0	100.0
2	Niger`NER`Western Africa	73.1	61.6	100.0	99.9
3	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	63.4	58.9	100.0	99.1
4	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	63.0	53.9	100.0	91.1
5	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	58.3	62.8	100.0	100.0
6	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	57.5	45.9	100.0	91.5
7	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	54.6	57.8	100.0	67.7
8	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	53.6	50.7	100.0	100.0
9	India`IND`Southern Asia	53.5	43.6	100.0	76.5
10	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	52.4	59.5	100.0	92.9
11	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	50.9	40.0	100.0	74.6
12	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	50.5	31.5	100.0	76.2
13	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	49.8	52.2	100.0	100.0
14	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	49.5	53.5	100.0	99.6
=15	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	49.3	47.4	100.0	100.0
=15	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	49.3	35.0	100.0	91.0
17	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	45.8	34.1	100.0	80.6
18	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	44.8	46.5	100.0	99.0
19	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	44.7	42.2	100.0	77.1
20	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	43.4	39.2	100.0	66.3
21	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	42.3	41.4	100.0	84.8
22	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	41.2	45.3	100.0	87.7
23	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	41.1	41.7	100.0	97.9
24	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	40.0	40.4	100.0	87.1
25	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	39.0	37.2	100.0	86.9
26	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	38.4	37.7	100.0	60.1
27	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	37.7	36.6	100.0	65.5
28	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	37.6	37.7	100.0	60.4
29	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	35.2	34.6	100.0	56.4
=30	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	35.1	29.1	100.0	30.0
=30	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	35.1	33.9	100.0	41.3
32	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	34.9	33.4	100.0	41.8
33	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	34.8	43.2	100.0	36.2
34	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	33.7	33.5	100.0	32.3
35	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	33.4	32.2	100.0	27.3
36	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	33.1	28.1	100.0	29.3
37	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	31.6	32.6	100.0	21.6
38	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	31.4	34.8	100.0	22.4
=39	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	30.8	32.8	100.0	16.7
=39	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	30.8	26.3	100.0	19.2
41	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	30.7	27.4	100.0	30.5
=42	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	30.3	30.5	100.0	7.9
=42	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	30.3	29.2	100.0	0.2
44	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	29.9	26.9	100.0	10.8
45	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	29.6	23.7	100.0	22.2
46	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	29.5	30.7	100.0	25.4
47	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	29.4	31.6	100.0	19.0
48	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	28.8	28.3	100.0	5.1
49	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	28.7	25.7	100.0	24.2
50	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	28.2	29.4	100.0	4.9
51	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	27.7	24.2	100.0	12.7
52	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	26.9	24.0	100.0	0.0
53	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	26.7	21.3	100.0	14.9
54	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	26.6	25.9	100.0	0.0
55	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	26.3	20.2	100.0	16.3
56	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	26.0	26.8	100.0	2.0
57	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	25.9	18.7	100.0	20.8
58	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	25.7	26.0	100.0	13.3
=59	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	25.6	21.6	100.0	3.2
=59	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	25.6	26.6	100.0	12.8
61	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	25.3	25.5	100.0	0.5
62	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	25.0	16.4	100.0	19.9
63	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	24.9	26.7	100.0	1.8
64	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	24.8	24.5	100.0	2.6
65	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	24.1	20.8	100.0	4.8
66	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	23.8	24.2	100.0	0.4
67	Bolivia`BOL`South America	23.4	19.7	100.0	8.4
=68	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	23.2	22.9	100.0	0.0
=68	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	23.2	17.1	100.0	1.7
70	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	22.7	24.7	100.0	0.1
71	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	22.6	14.6	100.0	13.1
72	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	22.4	16.3	100.0	1.0
73	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	22.3	20.7	100.0	0.3
=74	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	22.1	21.3	100.0	0.1
=74	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	22.1	16.5	100.0	18.1
76	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	21.6	18.6	100.0	8.6
77	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	21.4	19.4	100.0	0.5
78	Chile`CHL`South America	21.2	22.4	99.9	1.9
79	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	20.8	16.4	100.0	0.0
80	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	20.7	20.4	100.0	2.0
81	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	20.2	19.5	100.0	0.0
82	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	20.0	17.8	100.0	0.0
83	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	19.9	18.7	100.0	0.4
84	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	19.8	18.6	100.0	0.4
85	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	19.5	17.4	100.0	0.0
=86	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	19.2	20.0	100.0	0.0
=86	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	19.2	19.5	100.0	0.0
88	Peru`PER`South America	19.1	18.4	100.0	1.0
=89	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	18.8	24.5	100.0	0.2
=89	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	18.8	18.8	100.0	0.0
=91	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	18.6	17.2	100.0	0.1
=91	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	18.6	15.0	100.0	0.0
93	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	18.5	18.5	100.0	0.0
94	Venezuela`VEN`South America	18.0	14.9	100.0	0.0
=95	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	17.9	16.6	100.0	0.0
=95	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	17.9	15.7	100.0	0.0
=95	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	17.9	16.6	100.0	0.0
98	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	17.7	16.9	100.0	0.0
=99	Colombia`COL`South America	17.4	16.9	100.0	0.0
=99	Ecuador`ECU`South America	17.4	16.3	99.9	0.0
101	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	17.2	17.6	100.0	0.0
=102	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	17.1	13.7	100.0	0.0
=102	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	17.1	15.9	100.0	0.0
=104	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	17.0	16.0	100.0	0.0
=104	Honduras`HND`Central America	17.0	13.5	100.0	0.0
=106	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	16.9	14.4	100.0	0.0
=106	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	16.9	14.8	100.0	0.0
=108	Northern Cyprus`XNC`Western Asia	16.6	16.5	100.0	0.0
=108	Panama`PAN`Central America	16.6	15.5	100.0	0.0
=110	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	16.5	14.8	100.0	0.0
=110	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	16.5	14.1	100.0	0.0
112	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	16.4	14.2	100.0	0.0
113	Mexico`MEX`Central America	16.3	9.3	99.9	0.0
=114	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	16.2	14.5	100.0	0.0
=114	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	16.2	12.4	100.0	0.7
116	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	16.1	14.5	100.0	0.0
117	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	15.8	15.5	100.0	0.1
=118	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	15.6	15.4	100.0	0.0
=118	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	15.6	15.3	100.0	0.0
120	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	15.4	13.6	100.0	0.0
121	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	15.3	12.1	100.0	0.0
=122	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	15.1	16.4	100.0	0.0
=122	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	15.1	14.1	100.0	0.0
124	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	14.9	13.9	100.0	0.0
125	Suriname`SUR`South America	14.8	13.3	100.0	0.0
126	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	14.6	13.4	100.0	0.0
=127	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	14.5	14.1	100.0	0.0
=127	Paraguay`PRY`South America	14.5	14.3	100.0	0.0
129	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	14.4	12.8	100.0	0.0
130	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	14.3	13.7	99.8	0.0
=131	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	14.2	13.5	100.0	0.0
=131	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	14.2	14.9	100.0	0.0
133	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	14.0	10.7	100.0	0.0
134	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	13.9	13.7	100.0	0.0
=135	Brazil`BRA`South America	13.8	16.7	100.0	0.0
=135	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	13.8	13.3	100.0	0.0
=135	Guyana`GUY`South America	13.8	13.6	100.0	0.0
=135	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	13.8	18.1	99.9	0.2
139	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	13.7	12.9	100.0	0.0
140	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	13.6	30.0	100.0	1.4
141	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	13.3	13.3	100.0	0.0
142	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	13.2	10.9	100.0	0.0
143	Argentina`ARG`South America	13.0	15.2	100.0	0.7
144	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	12.8	7.2	97.4	0.0
145	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	12.7	12.9	100.0	0.0
=146	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	12.5	12.5	100.0	0.0
=146	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	12.5	13.4	100.0	0.0
=148	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	12.4	11.3	100.0	0.0
=148	Uruguay`URY`South America	12.4	9.6	100.0	0.0
150	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	12.2	11.8	100.0	0.0
=151	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	12.1	11.0	100.0	0.0
=151	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	12.1	12.0	100.0	0.0
=151	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	12.1	11.6	100.0	0.0
154	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	11.9	10.9	100.0	0.0
=155	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	11.7	11.5	100.0	0.0
=155	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	11.7	9.9	100.0	0.0
=157	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	11.5	10.5	100.0	0.0
=157	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	11.5	11.5	97.2	0.0
159	France`FRA`Western Europe	11.4	9.4	100.0	0.0
160	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	11.2	9.0	100.0	0.0
161	Belize`BLZ`Central America	10.9	11.1	100.0	0.0
=162	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	10.7	10.1	100.0	0.0
=162	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	10.7	12.7	100.0	0.0
=164	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	10.4	8.8	100.0	0.0
=164	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	10.4	9.9	100.0	0.0
166	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	10.2	8.9	100.0	0.0
=167	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	10.1	8.7	100.0	0.0
=167	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	10.1	9.9	100.0	0.0
=167	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	10.1	9.2	96.8	0.0
=170	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	9.8	9.2	100.0	0.0
=170	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	9.8	9.1	100.0	0.0
=172	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	9.6	7.6	90.0	0.0
=172	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	9.6	9.5	100.0	0.0
=172	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	9.6	7.4	99.9	0.0
175	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	9.5	8.6	100.0	0.0
176	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	9.3	9.4	100.0	0.0
177	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	8.9	9.4	100.0	0.0
178	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	8.5	8.6	100.0	0.0
179	United States`USA`Northern America	8.2	5.9	98.3	0.0
180	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	8.0	8.1	100.0	0.0
181	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	7.7	7.0	100.0	0.0
=182	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	7.6	7.2	100.0	0.0
=182	Canada`CAN`Northern America	7.6	4.7	95.6	0.0
184	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	7.5	6.8	99.8	0.0
185	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	7.3	7.2	100.0	0.0
186	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	7.1	6.5	100.0	0.0
187	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	6.9	6.8	99.9	0.0
188	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	6.8	6.8	99.9	0.0
189	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	6.6	4.2	84.9	0.0
190	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	6.5	6.5	100.0	0.0
191	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	6.4	6.5	100.0	0.0
=192	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	6.3	6.7	93.6	0.0
=192	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	6.3	6.3	100.0	0.0
=192	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	6.3	6.2	96.5	0.0
=195	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	6.1	6.3	95.9	0.0
=195	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	6.1	6.0	93.6	0.0
197	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	5.8	5.8	83.8	0.0
=198	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	5.7	5.8	81.0	0.0
=198	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	5.7	4.3	67.5	0.0
=198	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	5.7	4.2	73.1	0.0
201	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	5.1	4.9	71.5	0.0
202	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	4.7	4.8	31.0	0.0
=203	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	4.5	4.3	16.2	0.3
=203	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	4.5	4.7	7.2	0.0
=205	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	4.4	4.3	1.7	0.0
=205	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	4.4	3.7	10.3	0.0
=205	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	4.4	4.4	0.0	0.0
208	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	4.3	4.3	0.0	0.0
209	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	4.0	3.8	0.0	0.0
210	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	3.8	3.7	0.0	0.0
211	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	3.7	3.6	0.0	0.0
212	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	3.6	3.8	0.1	0.0
213	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	3.5	3.6	0.0	0.0
214	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	3.1	2.0	0.2	0.0
215	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	3.0	2.7	0.0	0.0
216	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	2.6	2.5	0.0	0.0
217	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	2.4	-1.8	0.0	0.0
218	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	2.3	2.2	0.0	0.0
219	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	2.2	2.3	0.0	0.0
220	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	1.9	1.9	0.0	0.0

02In 2015

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar82.6
2Niger73.1
3Bangladesh63.4
4Saudi Arabia63.0
5Bahrain58.3

Lowest

220Greenland1.9
219Cook Islands2.2
218Niue2.3
217French Polynesia2.4
216Tonga2.6

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 16.5. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar90.4
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.8
Middle country: 15.1
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest176 share it
Lowest12 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
Highest5 share it
Lowest133 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032014 → 2015

Since 2014

+0 / −0countries joined / left
213values changed, of 220 in both
130 · 83rose · fell
7unchanged

Rose most

Niger41.5 → 73.1+31.6
Chad31.4 → 52.4+21.0
Burkina Faso29.4 → 49.3+19.9
Nigeria35.0 → 54.6+19.6
Sudan28.6 → 44.7+16.1

Fell most

Lesotho67.0 → 34.8−32.2
Bangladesh77.1 → 63.4−13.7
Uganda42.2 → 33.1−9.1
Burundi39.8 → 33.4−6.4
El Salvador26.4 → 20.0−6.4

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

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

172 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 13.8. 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
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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-2015-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 (2015). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2015 [data set], describing 2015. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2015

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2014
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2016
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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