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Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis · PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure

PM2.5 air pollution by country

How polluted is the air the average person breathes?

Of the 220 countries compared in 2023, Cook Islands had the lowest reading, 2.5, and Bangladesh had the highest reading, 68.2. In the middle country the figure was 14.5. Among the 220 countries measured in every edition since 1998, the middle one moved from 14.1 to 14.5.

Part ofHealth & WellbeingEnvironment & Sustainability

PM2.5 air pollution · 2023

Context statistic

Lowest of 220Cook Islands

2.5

012023 · position · derived

Who leads

The three countries at the lowest end of 220 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.

  1. 1

    Cook Islands

    Polynesia

    2.5

    Photo: Benedict Adam · CC BY 2.0, greyscale

  2. 2

    Greenland

    Northern America

    2.6

    Photo: Kim Hansen derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

  3. 3

    French Polynesia

    Polynesia

    2.6

    Photo: mcclave · CC BY 2.0, greyscale

Highest in 2023

  1. Bangladesh68.2
  2. Qatar64.0
  3. Lesotho61.2

Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.

Lowest on each continent

02Every measured country

PM2.5 air pollution on a map

Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.

All regions

Darker is a lower value — the better end.

  • 27.7–68.2
  • 16.9–27.6
  • 12.2–16.8
  • 7.9–12.0
  • 2.5–7.8
  • No reading in 2023
  • Oceania

    3.8

    the middle country, of 21 measured · 21 members

    Cook Islands2.5

    Papua New Guinea12.5

    Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.

  • Europe

    9.6

    the middle country, of 48 measured · 49 members

    Faroe Islands4.2

    Bosnia and Herzegovina16.9

    Lowest and highest reading in Europe.

  • Americas

    12.1

    the middle country, of 48 measured · 48 members

    Greenland2.6

    Bolivia28.6

    Lowest and highest reading in Americas.

  • Africa

    22.6

    the middle country, of 54 measured · 55 members

    Seychelles4.8

    Lesotho61.2

    Lowest and highest reading in Africa.

  • Asia

    26.3

    the middle country, of 49 measured · 52 members

    2 share 10.9

    Bangladesh68.2

    Lowest and highest reading in Asia.

22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
  • Polynesia

    3.3

    the middle country, of 7 measured · 7 members

    Cook Islands2.5

    Tuvalu4.4

    Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.

  • Micronesia

    3.6

    the middle country, of 7 measured · 7 members

    Northern Mariana Islands3.1

    Palau5.1

    Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.

  • Melanesia

    6.0

    the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members

    New Caledonia4.2

    Papua New Guinea12.5

    Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.

  • Northern Europe

    6.4

    the middle country, of 12 measured · 13 members

    Faroe Islands4.2

    Lithuania8.2

    Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.

  • Western Europe

    8.3

    the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members

    Luxembourg7.3

    Austria8.9

    Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.

  • Caribbean

    9.4

    the middle country, of 24 measured · 24 members

    British Virgin Islands6.0

    Jamaica14.4

    Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.

  • Eastern Europe

    11.2

    the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members

    Belarus9.6

    Bulgaria14.3

    Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.

  • Southern Europe

    12.5

    the middle country, of 17 measured · 17 members

    Andorra4.9

    Bosnia and Herzegovina16.9

    Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.

  • Southern Africa

    14.2

    the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members

    Eswatini13.0

    Lesotho61.2

    Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.

  • Eastern Africa

    16.6

    the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members

    Seychelles4.8

    Rwanda40.3

    Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.

  • South America

    17.0

    the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members

    Suriname12.8

    Bolivia28.6

    Lowest and highest reading in South America.

  • Central America

    17.1

    the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members

    Belize11.7

    El Salvador24.2

    Lowest and highest reading in Central America.

  • Northern Africa

    20.0

    the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members

    Algeria15.7

    Egypt45.5

    Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.

  • South-eastern Asia

    20.8

    the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members

    Timor-Leste10.9

    Myanmar33.8

    Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.

  • Eastern Asia

    23.9

    the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members

    Japan13.4

    China32.6

    Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.

  • Central Asia

    26.3

    the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members

    Kazakhstan15.7

    Turkmenistan30.5

    Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.

  • Western Asia

    26.5

    the middle country, of 19 measured · 19 members

    Georgia15.3

    Qatar64.0

    Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.

  • Middle Africa

    29.4

    the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members

    São Tomé and Príncipe15.9

    Chad41.6

    Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.

  • Western Africa

    32.5

    the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members

    Cabo Verde14.0

    Niger50.3

    Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.

  • Southern Asia

    33.4

    the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members

    Maldives10.9

    Bangladesh68.2

    Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.

  • Australia and New Zealand

    2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.

    Australia5.8

    New Zealand6.7

    Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.

  • Northern America

    4 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, United States.

    Greenland2.6

    Canada9.6

    Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.

03The whole field at once

The spread

220 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 14.5; a quarter are above 24.3, and a quarter below 8.5. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.

102030405060Africa54 comparedLesotho: 61.2Niger: 50.3Egypt: 45.5Nigeria: 44.9Mauritania: 42.6Senegal: 42.4Chad: 41.6Rwanda: 40.3Cameroon: 39.9Gambia: 39.4Burkina Faso: 38.2Mali: 35.9Sudan: 34.5Benin: 33.1Togo: 31.8Burundi: 30.6DR Congo: 30.5Republic of the Congo: 30.5Central African Republic: 29.4Guinea-Bissau: 29.1Ghana: 28.9Guinea: 28.7South Africa: 27.6Uganda: 27.3Côte d’Ivoire: 24.0Djibouti: 23.1Libya: 22.7Ethiopia: 22.5Gabon: 21.9Eritrea: 21.7Angola: 21.2Sierra Leone: 21.2Equatorial Guinea: 20.9South Sudan: 20.8Liberia: 18.6Zambia: 18.3Kenya: 18.0Tunisia: 17.2Morocco: 16.4São Tomé and Príncipe: 15.9Algeria: 15.7Tanzania: 15.2Malawi: 14.8Botswana: 14.2Cabo Verde: 14.0Namibia: 13.5Zimbabwe: 13.1Eswatini: 13.0Somalia: 12.8Mauritius: 12.4Mozambique: 11.3Madagascar: 7.9Comoros: 5.2Seychelles: 4.8Seychelles 4.8Lesotho 61.2Americas48 comparedBolivia: 28.6Chile: 24.7El Salvador: 24.2Guatemala: 24.1Honduras: 23.1Peru: 18.6Ecuador: 17.7Paraguay: 17.7Venezuela: 17.3Costa Rica: 17.1Mexico: 17.0Nicaragua: 16.8Colombia: 16.6Argentina: 15.7Panama: 14.9Jamaica: 14.4Brazil: 13.9Dominican Republic: 13.8Uruguay: 13.4Curaçao: 13.3Guyana: 13.2Saint Lucia: 12.8Suriname: 12.8Haiti: 12.2Trinidad and Tobago: 11.9Belize: 11.7Aruba: 11.6Grenada: 11.2Cuba: 10.9Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 10.5Cayman Islands: 10.0Antigua and Barbuda: 9.8Canada: 9.6Dominica: 8.9Bermuda: 8.6United States: 8.6Saint Martin: 8.4Barbados: 8.0Sint Maarten: 8.0Saint Kitts and Nevis: 7.9Puerto Rico: 7.5Bahamas: 7.3United States Virgin Islands: 7.3Montserrat: 6.7Turks and Caicos Islands: 6.7Anguilla: 6.5British Virgin Islands: 6.0Greenland: 2.6Greenland 2.6Bolivia 28.6Asia49 comparedBangladesh: 68.2Qatar: 64.0Pakistan: 51.1Saudi Arabia: 50.1Kuwait: 48.2Bahrain: 47.7India: 47.1United Arab Emirates: 43.5Oman: 41.1Nepal: 40.7Iraq: 38.6Myanmar: 33.8Iran: 33.4China: 32.6Afghanistan: 31.7Laos: 31.5Turkmenistan: 30.5Lebanon: 29.7Bhutan: 28.9Vietnam: 27.8Jordan: 27.7Thailand: 27.7Uzbekistan: 27.6Syria: 26.5Tajikistan: 26.3Yemen: 26.0South Korea: 25.9Armenia: 24.9Cambodia: 24.6Mongolia: 23.9North Korea: 22.6Türkiye: 22.6Palestine: 21.9Singapore: 20.8Sri Lanka: 20.7Indonesia: 20.4Israel: 20.4Philippines: 19.1Kyrgyzstan: 18.5Northern Cyprus: 16.9Malaysia: 16.7Azerbaijan: 16.5Cyprus: 16.5Kazakhstan: 15.7Georgia: 15.3Japan: 13.4Brunei: 12.5Maldives: 10.9Timor-Leste: 10.9Maldives 10.9Bangladesh 68.2Europe48 comparedBosnia and Herzegovina: 16.9North Macedonia: 16.0Kosovo: 14.8Albania: 14.7Serbia: 14.7Vatican City: 14.7Greece: 14.5Bulgaria: 14.3Italy: 13.3Romania: 13.1Poland: 12.9Malta: 12.5Montenegro: 12.0San Marino: 11.8Slovenia: 11.8Croatia: 11.6Hungary: 11.5Ukraine: 11.3Russia: 11.1Slovakia: 11.1Moldova: 11.0Gibraltar: 10.8Czechia: 10.6Belarus: 9.6Spain: 9.5Austria: 8.9Portugal: 8.6Liechtenstein: 8.5Netherlands: 8.5Belgium: 8.4Monaco: 8.3France: 8.2Lithuania: 8.2United Kingdom: 8.1Switzerland: 8.0Germany: 7.8Denmark: 7.5Latvia: 7.5Luxembourg: 7.3Ireland: 7.1Isle of Man: 6.8Estonia: 6.1Sweden: 5.5Norway: 5.3Iceland: 5.1Andorra: 4.9Finland: 4.7Faroe Islands: 4.2Faroe Islands 4.2 · Bosnia and Herzegovina 16.9Oceania21 comparedPapua New Guinea: 12.5New Zealand: 6.7Solomon Islands: 6.5Fiji: 6.0Australia: 5.8Palau: 5.1Vanuatu: 4.7Tuvalu: 4.4New Caledonia: 4.2Tonga: 4.1Kiribati: 3.8Nauru: 3.7Guam: 3.6American Samoa: 3.5Marshall Islands: 3.5Micronesia: 3.3Samoa: 3.3Northern Mariana Islands: 3.1Niue: 3.0French Polynesia: 2.6Cook Islands: 2.5Cook Islands 2.5 · Papua New Guinea 12.5middle country 14.5

04All 220 ever measured

Every country

In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Higher is worse. The World Health Organization's guideline is 5 µg/m³ as a yearly average, and most of the world's people live above it. Arid countries read high partly because of desert dust, which no policy controls, so the top of the table mixes smoke from traffic, industry and fires with natural dust.

The raw table

Showing 25 of 220 countries

  1. 1 of 220BangladeshSouthern Asia68.2
  2. 2 of 220QatarWestern Asia64.0
  3. 3 of 220LesothoSouthern Africa61.2
  4. 4 of 220PakistanSouthern Asia51.1
  5. 5 of 220NigerWestern Africa50.3
  6. 6 of 220Saudi ArabiaWestern Asia50.1
  7. 7 of 220KuwaitWestern Asia48.2
  8. 8 of 220BahrainWestern Asia47.7
  9. 9 of 220IndiaSouthern Asia47.1
  10. 10 of 220EgyptNorthern Africa45.5
  11. 11 of 220NigeriaWestern Africa44.9
  12. 12 of 220United Arab EmiratesWestern Asia43.5
  13. 13 of 220MauritaniaWestern Africa42.6
  14. 14 of 220SenegalWestern Africa42.4
  15. 15 of 220ChadMiddle Africa41.6
  16. 16 of 220OmanWestern Asia41.1
  17. 17 of 220NepalSouthern Asia40.7
  18. 18 of 220RwandaEastern Africa40.3
  19. 19 of 220CameroonMiddle Africa39.9
  20. 20 of 220GambiaWestern Africa39.4
  21. 21 of 220IraqWestern Asia38.6
  22. 22 of 220Burkina FasoWestern Africa38.2
  23. 23 of 220MaliWestern Africa35.9
  24. 24 of 220SudanNorthern Africa34.5
  25. 25 of 220MyanmarSouth-eastern Asia33.8

Values for 2023. The change column compares 2023 with 2022 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.

051998–2023 · 26 editions

Over time

Each point is one year from 1998. The whole series is estimated on one method, so a change from year to year is a change in the air, within the estimate's uncertainty.

51015202519982002200620102014201820222023AsiaAfricaAmericasEuropeOceania
  • the middle country
  • the middle half of countries
  • the middle of the 220 countries measured every time
  • each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
YearCountriesMiddle countryMiddle halfMeasured every time
202322014.58.5 – 24.314.5
202222014.89.0 – 25.314.8
202122014.48.7 – 25.614.4
202022014.88.6 – 25.414.8
201922014.99.4 – 24.314.9
201822015.310.0 – 25.315.3
201722015.910.3 – 24.915.9
201622016.010.1 – 26.016.0
201522016.510.4 – 26.116.5
201422015.99.9 – 24.515.9
201322015.49.9 – 25.615.4
201222017.410.6 – 26.417.4
201122016.410.1 – 25.616.4
201022016.310.1 – 26.016.3
200922016.410.1 – 25.416.4
200822016.09.4 – 24.916.0
200722016.310.9 – 24.816.3
200622016.010.6 – 24.716.0
200522016.09.6 – 23.616.0
200422015.19.3 – 23.915.1
200322015.89.6 – 23.015.8
200222015.49.5 – 22.815.4
200122015.59.8 – 22.615.5
200022014.99.7 – 22.314.9
199922013.68.6 – 19.413.6
199822014.19.2 – 20.514.1

062022 → 2023

Who rose and fell

The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.

Improved most

before → after
  1. Qatar87.9 → 64.0 · 1st → 2nd−23.9
  2. Kuwait66.2 → 48.2 · 3rd → 7th−18.0
  3. Niger64.6 → 50.3 · 4th → 5th−14.3
  4. United Arab Emirates54.3 → 43.5 · 8th → 12th−10.8
  5. Bahrain57.4 → 47.7 · 6th → 8th−9.7

Worsened most

before → after
  1. Rwanda33.9 → 40.3 · 29th → 18th+6.4
  2. Laos25.2 → 31.5 · 56th → 31st+6.3
  3. Bolivia23.1 → 28.6 · 65th → 42nd+5.5
  4. Myanmar29.6 → 33.8 · 44th → 25th+4.2
  5. Bermuda4.8 → 8.6 · 202nd → 162nd+3.8

220 countries were measured in both 2022 and 2023.

07Across every edition

PM2.5 air pollution in records

The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.

08The measure

About PM2.5 air pollution

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.

What the number is: Population-weighted PM2.5 concentration (µg/m³).

What it does not measure

It is a yearly average, so it hides the worst days and the difference between a city and its countryside. It counts fine particles outdoors only — not ozone, nitrogen dioxide or smoke from cooking fires indoors — and it counts desert dust the same as exhaust.

09Where it fits

Connections

Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.

All statistics

In the Country Index

Context, with no vote

This statistic is published in full under Health & Wellbeing and Environment & Sustainability, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.

Health & WellbeingEnvironment & SustainabilityWhich statistics vote, and why

Moves with

Where PM2.5 air pollution is higher, these tend to be higher too.

Moves against

Where PM2.5 air pollution is higher, these tend to be lower.

Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 312 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.

On the same subject

10Keep reading

Explore further

11Questions

PM2.5 air pollution: questions and answers

Which country has the lowest PM2.5 air pollution?

Cook Islands, at 2.5, among the 220 countries compared in 2023.

Which country has the highest PM2.5 air pollution?

Bangladesh, at 68.2, among the 220 countries compared in 2023.

How many countries does the PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure cover?

220 in 2023.

What is the world average PM2.5 air pollution?

This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 220 compared in 2023, the figure was 14.5.

Is this Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis’s own ranking?

No. Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.

How often is the PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure published?

This site holds 26 editions, describing 1998 to 2023.

Where does the data come from, and can I download it?

From Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis, under CC BY 4.0. From the Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group at Washington University in St. Louis — its own country table, published to one decimal. The World Bank's PM2.5 series comes from a different producer and is not used here. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.

12Method

Sources, method and citation

Source

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure — Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis

From the Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group at Washington University in St. Louis — its own country table, published to one decimal. The World Bank's PM2.5 series comes from a different producer and is not used here.

Newest edition

Report year 2023Data year 2023

Cite the source as: Shen, S., Li, C., van Donkelaar, A., Jacobs, N., Wang, C., & Martin, R. V. (2024). Enhancing Global Estimation of Fine Particulate Matter Concentrations by Including Geophysical a Priori Information in Deep Learning. ACS ES&T Air. doi:10.1021/acsestair.3c00054. Country table: Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, SatPM2.5 V6.GL.02.04 (file GlobalPM25-V6GL0203-Annual-1998-2023).

Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-29.

The full 2023 table, row for row

How this page reads the numbers

  • Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
  • Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
  • A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
  • Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.

The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.

Photographs

The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). PM2.5 air pollution by country: PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, data from Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/pm25-exposure

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