Countries by air pollution (PM2.5)

Countries by air pollution (PM2.5), World Bank, 2023

#	Country	µg/m³	Region
1	Qatar	107.8	Western Asia
2	Saudi Arabia	73.5	Western Asia
3	Bangladesh	69.3	Southern Asia
4	Nigeria	65.7	Western Africa
5	Niger	65.2	Western Africa
6	Kuwait	62.3	Western Asia
7	Pakistan	58.4	Southern Asia
8	United Arab Emirates	57.2	Western Asia
9	Bahrain	56.6	Western Asia
10	Cameroon	55.6	Middle Africa
11	India	54.1	Southern Asia
12	Nepal	53.2	Southern Asia
13	Iraq	49.5	Western Asia
14	Oman	46.9	Western Asia
15	Yemen	46.8	Western Asia
16	Mauritania	46.5	Western Africa
17	Egypt	43.1	Northern Africa
18	Chad	43.0	Middle Africa
19	Mongolia	42.7	Eastern Asia
20	Equatorial Guinea	42.2	Middle Africa
21	Senegal	41.6	Western Africa
22	Djibouti	40.3	Eastern Africa
23	Iran	40.2	Southern Asia
24	Benin	39.7	Western Africa
25	Gambia	38.3	Western Africa
26	Afghanistan	37.9	Southern Asia
27	Sudan	37.6	Northern Africa
28	Burkina Faso	37.3	Western Africa
29	Congo	36.5	Middle Africa
30	Rwanda	36.0	Eastern Africa
31	DR Congo	35.8	Middle Africa
32	Burundi	35.7	Eastern Africa
33	Mali	35.5	Western Africa
34	Myanmar	35.1	South-Eastern Asia
35	Togo	34.3	Western Africa
36	Eritrea	33.7	Eastern Africa
=37	Central African Republic	33.3	Middle Africa
=37	Tajikistan	33.3	Central Asia
39	Uzbekistan	32.8	Central Asia
40	Jordan	32.6	Western Asia
41	Guinea-Bissau	32.3	Western Africa
42	Syria	32.1	Western Asia
43	China	32.0	Eastern Asia
44	Gabon	31.3	Middle Africa
=45	Turkmenistan	31.2	Central Asia
=45	Uganda	31.2	Eastern Africa
47	Peru	31.1	South America
48	Honduras	30.7	Central America
49	Bhutan	30.1	Southern Asia
50	Guatemala	29.7	Central America
51	El Salvador	29.6	Central America
52	Armenia	28.6	Western Asia
=53	Bolivia	28.1	South America
=53	Ghana	28.1	Western Africa
55	South Africa	27.7	Southern Africa
56	Guinea	27.3	Western Africa
57	Lebanon	26.7	Western Asia
=58	Lesotho	26.4	Southern Africa
=58	Turkey	26.4	Western Asia
60	Bosnia and Herzegovina	26.1	Southern Europe
61	Laos	26.0	South-Eastern Asia
62	Vietnam	24.8	South-Eastern Asia
63	Ethiopia	23.8	Eastern Africa
=64	Azerbaijan	23.7	Western Asia
=64	South Sudan	23.7	Eastern Africa
66	Thailand	23.5	South-Eastern Asia
67	Chile	23.1	South America
68	Sri Lanka	22.7	Southern Asia
69	Sierra Leone	22.5	Western Africa
70	Philippines	22.2	South-Eastern Asia
=71	Israel	21.9	Western Asia
=71	South Korea	21.9	Eastern Asia
=73	North Korea	21.8	Eastern Asia
=73	North Macedonia	21.8	Southern Europe
75	Jamaica	21.7	Caribbean
76	Indonesia	20.8	South-Eastern Asia
=77	Côte d'Ivoire	20.4	Western Africa
=77	Nicaragua	20.4	Central America
79	Kenya	20.3	Eastern Africa
=80	Cabo Verde	20.2	Western Africa
=80	Tanzania	20.2	Eastern Africa
=80	Zambia	20.2	Eastern Africa
83	Kyrgyzstan	20.1	Central Asia
84	Libya	20.0	Northern Africa
85	Angola	19.9	Middle Africa
86	Bulgaria	19.7	Eastern Europe
87	Kazakhstan	19.6	Central Asia
88	Cambodia	19.4	South-Eastern Asia
89	Serbia	19.3	Southern Europe
90	Venezuela	19.2	South America
91	Tunisia	18.9	Northern Africa
92	Morocco	18.7	Northern Africa
=93	Ecuador	18.6	South America
=93	Georgia	18.6	Western Asia
=95	Montenegro	18.5	Southern Europe
=95	Somalia	18.5	Eastern Africa
97	Colombia	18.4	South America
98	Liberia	17.9	Western Africa
99	Costa Rica	17.7	Central America
100	Guyana	16.9	South America
101	Belize	16.8	Central America
=102	Eswatini	16.7	Southern Africa
=102	Malawi	16.7	Eastern Africa
104	Mexico	16.6	Central America
=105	Algeria	16.5	Northern Africa
=105	Poland	16.5	Eastern Europe
107	Cyprus	16.1	Western Asia
108	Romania	16.0	Eastern Europe
109	Malaysia	15.9	South-Eastern Asia
=110	Croatia	15.8	Southern Europe
=110	Haiti	15.8	Caribbean
112	Suriname	15.7	South America
113	Albania	15.5	Southern Europe
114	Paraguay	15.3	South America
=115	Panama	15.1	Central America
=115	São Tomé and Principe	15.1	Middle Africa
=115	Singapore	15.1	South-Eastern Asia
118	Zimbabwe	15.0	Eastern Africa
=119	Moldova	14.9	Eastern Europe
=119	Ukraine	14.9	Eastern Europe
=121	Argentina	14.3	South America
=121	Italy	14.3	Southern Europe
123	Namibia	14.2	Southern Africa
=124	Greece	14.1	Southern Europe
=124	Mauritius	14.1	Eastern Africa
=124	Papua New Guinea	14.1	Melanesia
127	Trinidad and Tobago	13.8	Caribbean
=128	Hungary	13.7	Eastern Europe
=128	Mozambique	13.7	Eastern Africa
=128	Slovakia	13.7	Eastern Europe
131	Dominican Republic	13.5	Caribbean
132	Brazil	13.4	South America
133	Botswana	13.2	Southern Africa
134	Latvia	13.0	Northern Europe
=135	Czechia	12.7	Eastern Europe
=135	San Marino	12.7	Southern Europe
137	Slovenia	12.6	Southern Europe
138	Madagascar	12.4	Eastern Africa
=139	Belarus	12.0	Eastern Europe
=139	Timor-Leste	12.0	South-Eastern Asia
141	Russia	11.6	Eastern Europe
=142	Dominica	11.5	Caribbean
=142	Japan	11.5	Eastern Asia
144	Monaco	11.4	Western Europe
145	Maldives	11.2	Southern Asia
146	Grenada	11.0	Caribbean
=147	Barbados	10.9	Caribbean
=147	Uruguay	10.9	South America
149	Malta	10.8	Southern Europe
150	Lithuania	10.7	Northern Europe
151	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	10.6	Caribbean
152	Saint Lucia	10.4	Caribbean
153	Comoros	10.2	Eastern Africa
154	Spain	10.1	Southern Europe
155	Austria	10.0	Western Europe
156	Solomon Islands	9.8	Melanesia
157	United Kingdom	9.5	Northern Europe
158	Cuba	9.4	Caribbean
159	Seychelles	9.3	Eastern Africa
=160	Andorra	8.9	Southern Europe
=160	Saint Kitts and Nevis	8.9	Caribbean
=162	Germany	8.8	Western Europe
=162	Portugal	8.8	Southern Europe
164	Netherlands	8.6	Western Europe
=165	Antigua and Barbuda	8.4	Caribbean
=165	Belgium	8.4	Western Europe
167	Switzerland	8.3	Western Europe
168	France	8.2	Western Europe
169	Brunei	7.6	South-Eastern Asia
=170	Denmark	7.5	Northern Europe
=170	Ireland	7.5	Northern Europe
172	Luxembourg	7.4	Western Europe
=173	United States	7.0	Northern America
=173	Vanuatu	7.0	Melanesia
175	New Zealand	6.9	Australia and New Zealand
176	Canada	6.6	Northern America
=177	Australia	6.4	Australia and New Zealand
=177	Fiji	6.4	Melanesia
179	Estonia	5.9	Northern Europe
180	Norway	5.5	Northern Europe
=181	Bahamas	5.3	Caribbean
=181	Sweden	5.3	Northern Europe
=183	Iceland	4.9	Northern Europe
=183	Palau	4.9	Micronesia
185	Nauru	4.8	Micronesia
186	Tonga	4.7	Polynesia
=187	Finland	4.6	Northern Europe
=187	Samoa	4.6	Polynesia
189	Marshall Islands	4.1	Micronesia
190	Kiribati	3.9	Micronesia
191	Micronesia	3.5	Micronesia

No World Bank figure for 3 countries: Liechtenstein, Taiwan, Vatican City.

Territories and other places

Not ranked: dependencies of the states above, places whose status is disputed, and Antarctica. Highest first.

Place	µg/m³	Status
Palestine	22.4	Status disputed
Puerto Rico	7.8	Territory of United States of America
US Virgin Islands	6.8	Territory of United States of America
Bermuda	4.6	Territory of United Kingdom
American Samoa	4.3	Territory of United States of America
Guam	3.5	Territory of United States of America
Northern Mariana Islands	2.7	Territory of United States of America
Greenland	1.6	Territory of Denmark

Questions

Which country has the most polluted air?

Qatar has the most polluted air: 107.8 µg/m³ (2023). Next come Saudi Arabia (73.5 µg/m³) and Bangladesh (69.3 µg/m³).

Which country has the cleanest air?

Micronesia, with 3.5 µg/m³ (2023).

What is the typical air pollution (pm2.5) of a country?

The median of the 191 countries is 18.5 µg/m³: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.

Where do the figures come from?

The average concentration of fine particles (PM2.5) in the air people breathe over a year, in micrograms per cubic metre. The WHO’s guideline is 5. Source: World Bank, 2023. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately.

Source: World Bank (CC BY 4.0). Figures more than 5 years older than the newest are left out rather than shown beside current ones. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.