Data for 2023

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2023

Name: PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2023
Creator: Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis
License: https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/datasets/surface-pm2-5/

Figures for 2023, 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, 2023 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Bangladesh is highest, at 68.2; Cook Islands is lowest, at 2.5. The middle country reads 14.5. Against 2022, 214 values changed (88 up, 126 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2023

HighestBangladesh

68.2

LowestCook Islands

2.5

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

220countries
4measures per country
2023the year it describes
163distinct 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, 2023, 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, 2023: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	68.2	61.0	100.0	96.3
2	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	64.0	63.7	100.0	98.8
3	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	61.2	68.0	100.0	91.3
4	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	51.1	40.4	100.0	87.0
5	Niger`NER`Western Africa	50.3	47.5	100.0	99.1
6	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	50.1	40.4	100.0	83.6
7	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	48.2	49.8	100.0	85.5
8	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	47.7	52.4	100.0	93.4
9	India`IND`Southern Asia	47.1	39.2	100.0	75.2
10	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	45.5	36.7	100.0	86.5
11	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	44.9	47.1	100.0	61.9
12	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	43.5	48.9	100.0	90.1
13	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	42.6	44.0	100.0	90.6
14	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	42.4	38.7	100.0	70.9
15	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	41.6	48.1	100.0	54.3
16	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	41.1	40.2	100.0	82.3
17	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	40.7	30.2	100.0	75.1
18	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	40.3	38.9	100.0	59.3
19	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	39.9	31.5	100.0	49.4
20	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	39.4	35.3	100.0	67.6
21	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	38.6	36.1	100.0	58.4
22	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	38.2	34.1	100.0	53.2
23	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	35.9	37.1	100.0	46.5
24	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	34.5	34.9	100.0	46.1
25	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	33.8	29.6	100.0	34.1
26	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	33.4	34.2	100.0	35.7
27	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	33.1	36.0	100.0	30.7
28	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	32.6	23.0	100.0	40.0
29	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	31.8	33.0	100.0	22.9
30	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	31.7	32.9	100.0	30.4
31	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	31.5	30.1	100.0	21.8
32	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	30.6	29.2	100.0	24.9
=33	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	30.5	29.1	100.0	22.2
=33	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	30.5	29.2	100.0	39.1
=33	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	30.5	30.9	100.0	17.3
36	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	29.7	23.9	100.0	26.5
37	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	29.4	28.6	100.0	5.9
38	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	29.1	28.1	100.0	3.2
=39	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	28.9	23.2	100.0	18.7
=39	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	28.9	29.0	100.0	11.2
41	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	28.7	28.2	100.0	15.4
42	Bolivia`BOL`South America	28.6	27.2	100.0	26.5
43	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	27.8	24.2	100.0	14.9
=44	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	27.7	29.3	100.0	15.9
=44	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	27.7	28.4	100.0	12.3
=46	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	27.6	19.9	100.0	28.1
=46	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	27.6	24.9	100.0	12.5
48	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	27.3	22.0	100.0	12.7
49	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	26.5	24.9	100.0	10.5
50	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	26.3	15.4	100.0	12.1
51	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	26.0	26.4	100.0	10.5
52	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	25.9	22.2	100.0	0.0
53	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	24.9	19.1	100.0	10.4
54	Chile`CHL`South America	24.7	19.2	100.0	4.6
55	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	24.6	21.9	100.0	5.6
56	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	24.2	20.8	100.0	6.0
57	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	24.1	20.2	100.0	3.5
58	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	24.0	25.3	100.0	0.9
59	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	23.9	13.2	100.0	14.6
=60	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	23.1	22.6	100.0	0.0
=60	Honduras`HND`Central America	23.1	18.6	100.0	0.3
62	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	22.7	26.7	100.0	0.8
=63	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	22.6	19.9	100.0	0.0
=63	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	22.6	22.7	100.0	2.2
65	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	22.5	19.0	100.0	4.2
=66	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	21.9	20.8	100.0	0.0
=66	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	21.9	20.8	100.0	2.1
68	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	21.7	23.8	100.0	1.1
=69	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	21.2	20.4	100.0	0.0
=69	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	21.2	20.5	100.0	0.6
71	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	20.9	18.0	100.0	7.4
=72	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	20.8	19.8	100.0	0.0
=72	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	20.8	22.9	100.0	0.0
74	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	20.7	20.4	100.0	0.0
=75	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	20.4	16.0	100.0	7.5
=75	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	20.4	23.8	100.0	0.0
77	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	19.1	14.2	100.0	5.2
=78	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	18.6	16.8	100.0	0.0
=78	Peru`PER`South America	18.6	19.1	100.0	3.5
80	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	18.5	12.5	100.0	5.3
81	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	18.3	18.1	100.0	0.0
82	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	18.0	14.1	100.0	0.0
=83	Ecuador`ECU`South America	17.7	16.6	99.9	0.0
=83	Paraguay`PRY`South America	17.7	19.1	100.0	0.0
85	Venezuela`VEN`South America	17.3	14.9	100.0	0.0
86	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	17.2	21.5	100.0	0.1
87	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	17.1	15.8	100.0	0.0
88	Mexico`MEX`Central America	17.0	9.8	99.6	0.0
=89	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	16.9	14.7	100.0	0.5
=89	Northern Cyprus`XNC`Western Asia	16.9	17.0	100.0	0.0
91	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	16.8	13.7	100.0	0.0
92	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	16.7	12.3	100.0	0.0
93	Colombia`COL`South America	16.6	17.4	100.0	0.0
=94	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	16.5	16.2	100.0	0.0
=94	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	16.5	18.1	100.0	0.0
96	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	16.4	18.7	100.0	0.0
97	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	16.0	14.6	100.0	0.0
98	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	15.9	14.7	100.0	0.0
=99	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	15.7	27.0	100.0	1.0
=99	Argentina`ARG`South America	15.7	15.2	100.0	1.8
=99	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	15.7	12.1	100.0	2.0
102	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	15.3	12.9	100.0	0.0
103	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	15.2	14.2	100.0	0.0
104	Panama`PAN`Central America	14.9	14.2	100.0	0.0
=105	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	14.8	14.5	100.0	0.0
=105	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	14.8	15.4	100.0	0.0
=107	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	14.7	13.4	100.0	0.0
=107	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	14.7	13.3	100.0	0.2
=107	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	14.7	14.7	100.0	0.0
110	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	14.5	13.2	100.0	0.0
111	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	14.4	12.5	100.0	0.5
112	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	14.3	13.6	100.0	0.0
113	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	14.2	13.0	100.0	0.4
114	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	14.0	15.0	100.0	0.0
115	Brazil`BRA`South America	13.9	17.8	99.9	1.2
116	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	13.8	10.3	100.0	0.0
117	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	13.5	10.4	100.0	0.0
=118	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	13.4	12.9	100.0	0.0
=118	Uruguay`URY`South America	13.4	9.9	100.0	0.0
=120	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	13.3	12.4	100.0	0.0
=120	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	13.3	10.9	100.0	0.0
122	Guyana`GUY`South America	13.2	12.7	100.0	0.0
=123	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	13.1	11.9	100.0	0.0
=123	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	13.1	12.3	100.0	0.0
125	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	13.0	12.5	100.0	0.0
126	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	12.9	11.4	100.0	0.0
=127	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	12.8	13.0	100.0	0.0
=127	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	12.8	14.9	100.0	0.1
=127	Suriname`SUR`South America	12.8	11.6	100.0	0.0
=130	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	12.5	9.5	100.0	0.0
=130	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	12.5	12.3	100.0	0.0
=130	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	12.5	11.7	99.9	0.0
133	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	12.4	10.9	96.7	4.8
134	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	12.2	11.5	100.0	0.0
135	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	12.0	12.0	100.0	0.0
136	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	11.9	11.6	100.0	0.0
=137	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	11.8	11.6	100.0	0.0
=137	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	11.8	10.3	100.0	0.0
139	Belize`BLZ`Central America	11.7	12.2	100.0	0.0
=140	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	11.6	11.5	100.0	0.0
=140	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	11.6	11.0	100.0	0.0
142	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	11.5	11.1	100.0	0.0
=143	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	11.3	11.3	98.5	0.0
=143	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	11.3	10.3	100.0	0.0
145	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	11.2	10.8	99.8	0.0
=146	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	11.1	7.3	98.1	0.0
=146	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	11.1	10.4	99.9	0.0
148	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	11.0	10.8	100.0	0.0
=149	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	10.9	8.6	100.0	0.0
=149	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	10.9	12.7	100.0	0.0
=149	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	10.9	10.2	100.0	0.0
152	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	10.8	10.9	100.0	0.0
153	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	10.6	9.2	99.9	0.0
154	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	10.5	10.1	100.0	0.0
155	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	10.0	9.6	100.0	0.0
156	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	9.8	8.5	99.7	0.0
=157	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	9.6	9.0	100.0	0.0
=157	Canada`CAN`Northern America	9.6	15.0	96.0	0.3
159	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	9.5	7.1	99.5	0.0
=160	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	8.9	7.9	99.9	0.0
=160	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	8.9	8.9	99.6	0.0
=162	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	8.6	8.7	100.0	0.0
=162	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	8.6	7.0	99.5	0.0
=162	United States`USA`Northern America	8.6	6.2	97.9	0.0
=165	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	8.5	8.2	100.0	0.0
=165	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	8.5	8.4	100.0	0.0
=167	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	8.4	7.4	99.4	0.0
=167	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	8.4	8.2	100.0	0.0
169	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	8.3	8.3	100.0	0.0
=170	France`FRA`Western Europe	8.2	6.9	99.4	0.0
=170	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	8.2	7.7	100.0	0.0
172	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	8.1	7.0	99.8	0.0
=173	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	8.0	8.3	100.0	0.0
=173	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	8.0	7.8	100.0	0.0
=173	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	8.0	7.4	99.1	0.0
=176	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	7.9	6.4	84.4	0.8
=176	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	7.9	8.0	97.3	0.0
178	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	7.8	7.1	99.3	0.0
=179	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	7.5	7.0	100.0	0.0
=179	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	7.5	6.6	100.0	0.0
=179	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	7.5	7.1	100.0	0.0
=182	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	7.3	6.7	99.6	0.0
=182	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	7.3	6.4	100.0	0.0
=182	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	7.3	7.1	99.5	0.0
185	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	7.1	6.9	99.9	0.0
186	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	6.8	6.4	99.9	0.0
=187	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	6.7	7.4	100.0	0.0
=187	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	6.7	6.2	98.8	0.0
=187	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	6.7	6.2	91.6	0.0
=190	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	6.5	6.5	100.0	0.0
=190	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	6.5	6.2	98.4	0.0
192	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	6.1	5.6	97.5	0.0
=193	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	6.0	6.1	97.0	0.0
=193	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	6.0	5.5	87.1	0.0
195	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	5.8	6.7	79.7	0.0
196	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	5.5	4.1	69.4	0.0
197	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	5.3	4.2	66.1	0.0
198	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	5.2	5.3	65.3	0.0
=199	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	5.1	4.7	48.7	0.0
=199	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	5.1	5.1	59.6	0.0
201	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	4.9	4.3	41.9	0.0
202	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	4.8	4.9	15.6	0.0
=203	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	4.7	3.8	33.3	0.0
=203	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	4.7	4.8	27.9	0.0
205	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	4.4	4.4	7.8	0.0
=206	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	4.2	4.1	0.2	0.0
=206	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	4.2	4.2	1.4	0.0
208	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	4.1	4.1	13.3	0.0
209	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	3.8	3.2	0.9	0.0
210	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	3.7	3.7	0.0	0.0
211	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	3.6	3.5	0.0	0.0
=212	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	3.5	3.2	0.0	0.0
=212	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	3.5	2.4	0.1	0.0
=214	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	3.3	3.4	0.0	0.0
=214	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	3.3	3.2	0.0	0.0
216	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	3.1	3.2	0.0	0.0
217	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	3.0	2.9	0.0	0.0
=218	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	2.6	-1.5	0.0	0.0
=218	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	2.6	2.8	0.0	0.0
220	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	2.5	2.6	0.0	0.0

02In 2023

At either end

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

Highest

1Bangladesh68.2
2Qatar64.0
3Lesotho61.2
4Pakistan51.1
5Niger50.3

Lowest

220Cook Islands2.5
218French Polynesiashared2.6
218Greenlandshared2.6
217Niue3.0
216Northern Mariana Islands3.1

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 14.5. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestLesotho68.0
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.5
Middle country: 13.1
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest160 share it
Lowest10 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
HighestNiger99.1
Lowest137 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032022 → 2023

Since 2022

+0 / −0countries joined / left
214values changed, of 220 in both
88 · 126rose · fell
6unchanged

Rose most

Rwanda33.9 → 40.3+6.4
Laos25.2 → 31.5+6.3
Bolivia23.1 → 28.6+5.5
Myanmar29.6 → 33.8+4.2
Bermuda4.8 → 8.6+3.8

Fell most

Qatar87.9 → 64.0−23.9
Kuwait66.2 → 48.2−18.0
Niger64.6 → 50.3−14.3
United Arab Emirates54.3 → 43.5−10.8
Bahrain57.4 → 47.7−9.7

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

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

163 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 3 countries share 30.5. 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-2023-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 (2023). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2023 [data set], describing 2023. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2023

0626 held

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2022
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26 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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