The following list of countries by air pollution sorts the countries of the world according to their average measured concentration of particulate matter (PM2.5) in micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³). The World Health Organization's recommended limit is 10 micrograms per cubic meter, although there are also various national guideline values, which are often much higher. Air pollution is among the biggest health problems of modern industrial society and is responsible for more than 10 percent of all deaths worldwide (nearly 4.5 million premature deaths in 2019), according to The Lancet. Air pollution can affect nearly every organ and system of the body, negatively affecting nature and humans alike. Air pollution is a particularly big problem in emerging and developing countries, where global environmental standards often cannot be met. The data in this list refers only to outdoor air quality and not indoor air quality, which caused an additional two million premature deaths in 2019.^[1]

List

All data are valid for the year 2018-2022 and are taken from the IQAir 2022 World Air Quality Ranking^[2][3][4][5]

List of Countries/Regions by particulate matter (PM2.5)
in (µg/m³)

Rank	Country/Region	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	Population
1	Chad	89.7	75.9	--	--	--	17,179,740
2	Iraq	80.1	49.7	--	39.6	--	43,533,592
3	Pakistan	70.9	66.8	59	65.8	74.3	231,402,117
4	Bahrain	66.6	49.8	39.7	46.8	59.8	1,463,265
5	Bangladesh	65.8	76.9	77.1	83.3	97.1	169,356,251
6	Burkina Faso	63	--	--	--	--	22,100,683
7	Kuwait	55.8	29.7	34	38.3	56	4,250,114
8	India	53.3	58.1	51.9	58.1	72.5	1,407,563,842
9	Egypt	46.5	29.1	--	18	--	109,262,178
10	Tajikistan	46	59.4	30.9	--	--	9,750,064
11	United Arab Emirates	45.9	36	29.2	38.9	49.9	9,365,145
12	Sudan	44.6	44.1	--	--	--	45,657,202
13	Rwanda	44	--	--	--	--	13,461,888
14	Qatar	42.5	38.2	44.3	--	--	2,688,235
15	Saudi Arabia	41.5	32.7	23.3	22.1	--	35,950,396
16	Nepal	40.1	46	39.2	44.5	54.1	30,034,989
17	Uganda	39.6	27.6	26.1	29.1	40.8	45,853,778
18	Nigeria	36.9	34	--	21.4	44.8	213,401,323
19	Bosnia Herzegovina	33.6	27.8	40.6	34.6	40	3,270,943
20	Uzbekistan	33.5	42.8	29.9	41.2	34.3	34,915,100
21	Iran	32.5	30.3	27.2	24.3	25	87,923,432
22	Armenia	31.4	33.9	24.9	25.5	--	2,790,974
23	Ethiopia	31.3	23.9	14.7	20.1	27.1	120,283,026
24	Kyrgyzstan	31.1	50.8	43.5	33.2	--	6,691,800
25	China	30.6	32.6	34.7	39.1	41.2	1,412,360,000
26	Indonesia	30.4	34.3	40.7	51.7	42	273,753,191
27	Ghana	30.2	25.9	26.9	30.3	--	32,833,031
28	Mongolia	29.5	33.1	46.6	62	58.5	3,347,782
29	Laos	27.6	21.5	22.4	23.1	--	7,275,556
30	Vietnam	27.2	24.7	28	34.1	32.9	97,468,029
31	North Macedonia	25.6	25.4	30.6	32.4	35.5	2,065,092
32	Gabon	25	--	--	--	--	2,341,179
33	Serbia	24.7	25.5	24.3	23.3	23.9	6,834,326
34	Zambia	24.6	--	--	--	--	19,473,125
35	Myanmar	24.3	25.9	29.4	31	--	53,798,084
36	Madagascar	23.7	21	20	--	--	28,915,653
37	Croatia	23.5	25.4	21.2	19.1	22.2	3,899,000
38	Peru	23.5	29.6	17.9	23.3	28	33,715,471
39	South Africa	23.4	22.7	18	21.6	--	59,392,255
40	Kazakhstan	23	31.1	21.9	23.6	29.8	19,000,988
41	Moldova	22.6	--	--	--	--	2,615,199
42	Ivory Coast	22.5	--	21.9	--	--	29,389,150
43	Chile	22.2	21.7	19.3	22.6	24.9	19,493,184
44	Turkmenistan	21.6	20.4	17	--	--	6,341,855
45	Turkey	21.1	20	18.7	20.6	21.9	84,775,404
46	Sri Lanka	20.7	17.4	22.4	25.2	32	22,156,000
47	Senegal	20.4	--	11.2	--	--	16,876,720
48	Syria	20	23	--	32.2	--	21,324,367
49	Mexico	19.5	19.3	18.9	20	20.3	126,705,138
50	Greece	19	19	18.4	22.5	--	10,641,221
51	Azerbaijan	18.9	17.6	--	--	--	10,137,750
52	Italy	18.9	15.2	18.5	17.1	14.9	59,109,668
53	Israel	18.8	18.7	16.9	20.8	18.6	9,364,000
54	Guatemala	18.6	19.5	19.2	20.2	--	17,109,746
55	Bulgaria	18.3	16.3	27.5	25.5	25.8	6,877,743
56	South Korea	18.3	19.1	19.5	24.8	24	51,744,876
57	Thailand	18.1	20.2	21.4	24.3	26.4	71,601,103
58	Algeria	17.8	20	20.2	21.2	--	44,177,969
59	Malaysia	17.7	19.4	15.6	19.4	--	33,573,874
60	Romania	17.2	15.3	15.8	18.3	18.6	19,119,880
61	Georgia	17	21	20.4	20.1	--	3,708,610
62	Poland	16.3	19.1	16.9	18.7	22.4	37,747,124
63	Colombia	15.7	14.1	15.6	14.6	13.9	51,516,562
64	Montenegro	15.7	35.2	26.1	--	--	619,211
65	Cyprus	15.6	14.8	15.8	19.7	17.6	1,244,188
66	Democratic Republic of the Congo	15.5	--	--	32.1	--	95,894,118
67	Macao SAR	15.4	17	17.8	23.5	21.2	686,607
68	Slovenia	15.1	13.3	--	--	--	2,108,079
69	Philippines	14.9	15.6	12.8	17.6	14.6	113,880,328
70	Kosovo	14.7	14.7	20	23.5	30.4	1,786,038
71	Slovakia	14.5	16	15.3	16.1	18.5	5,447,247
72	Hong Kong SAR	14.5	15.9	15.4	20.3	20.2	7,413,100
73	Albania	14.5	12.5	16	--	--	2,811,666
74	El Salvador	14.2	--	--	--	--	6,314,167
75	Czech Republic	13.4	13.9	12.3	14.4	20.2	10,505,772
76	Taiwan	13.4	16.2	15	17.2	18.5	23,816,775
77	Singapore	13.3	13.8	11.8	19	14.8	5,453,566
78	Lithuania	13.2	13.2	11.7	14.5	17.5	2,800,839
79	Guyana	12.6	--	--	--	--	804,567
80	Hungary	12.6	15.5	14.3	14.6	16.8	9,709,891
81	Brazil	12.2	13.6	14.2	15.8	16.3	214,326,223
82	Malta	11.7	13.5	11.8	9.4	11	518,536
83	Kenya	11.5	14.3	14.2	--	--	53,005,614
84	France	11.5	11.4	11.1	12.3	13.2	67,749,632
85	Uruguay	11.3	14.2	--	--	--	3,426,260
86	Russia	11.2	12.3	9.3	9.9	11.4	143,449,286
87	Netherlands	11	11.3	9.7	10.9	11.7	17,533,044
88	Germany	11	10.6	10.1	11	13	83,196,078
89	Spain	10.9	10.7	10.4	9.7	10.3	47,415,750
90	Maldives	10.9	--	--	--	--	521,457
91	Belgium	10.8	11.5	8.9	12.5	13.5	11,592,952
92	Austria	10.6	11.4	10.9	12.2	15	8,955,797
93	Honduras	10.2	11.8	--	--	--	10,278,345
94	Latvia	10.1	--	11.3	13.3	--	1,884,490
95	Switzerland	10	10.8	9	10.9	11.6	8,703,405
96	Ukraine	9.7	18.5	19.2	16.6	14	43,792,855
97	Japan	9.1	9.1	9.8	11.4	12	125,681,593
98	Panama	9	--	--	--	--	4,351,267
99	USA	8.9	10.3	9.6	9	9.1	331,893,745
100	Nicaragua	8.9	--	--	--	--	6,850,540
101	United Kingdom	8.9	8.8	8.3	10.5	10.8	67,326,569
102	Angola	8.8	11	13	15.9	--	34,503,774
103	Denmark	8.6	9.6	9.4	9.6	--	5,856,733
104	Cambodia	8.3	19.8	21.1	25.8	--	17,652,114
105	Liechtenstein	8.3	7.2	--	--	--	39,039
106	Portugal	8.1	7.1	9.1	9.3	9.4	10,325,147
107	Costa Rica	7.9	7.8	8.2	10.4	--	5,153,957
108	Argentina	7.7	8.2	14.2	14.6	--	45,808,747
109	Ireland	7.5	8	8.6	10.6	9.5	5,033,165
110	Luxembourg	7.4	9	9	9.6	11.2	640,064
111	Canada	7.4	8.5	7.3	7.7	7.9	38,246,108
112	Bolivia	7.3	--	--	--	--	12,079,472
113	Suriname	7	--	--	--	--	612,985
114	Norway	7	7.5	5.7	6.9	7.6	5,408,320
115	Sweden	6.2	6.6	5	6.6	7.4	10,415,811
116	Belize	5.6	--	--	--	--	400,031
117	Andorra	5.4	7.3	7.4	--	--	79,034
118	Trinidad and Tobago	5.1	7.1	--	--	--	1,525,663
119	Finland	5	5.5	5	5.6	6.6	5,541,017
120	Estonia	4.9	5.9	5.9	6.2	7.2	1,330,932
121	New Zealand	4.8	6.8	7	7.5	7.7	5,122,600
122	Puerto Rico	4.3	4.8	3.7	10.2	13.7	3,263,584
123	Australia	4.2	5.7	7.6	8	6.8	25,688,079
124	Grenada	3.8	5.5	--	--	--	124,610
125	New Caledonia	3.5	3.8	3.7	--	--	271,030
126	Iceland	3.4	6.1	7.2	5.5	5	372,520
127	Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba	3.3	5.1	--	--	--	26,221
128	Bermuda	3	--	--	--	--	63,867
129	U.S. Virgin Islands	2.9	4.5	3.7	3.5	--	105,870
130	French Polynesia	2.5	--	--	--	--	304,032
131	Guam	1.3	--	--	--	--	170,534