Data for 2003

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2003

Figures for 2003, as Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2003 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 83.9; 3 countries share the lowest reading, 2.1. The middle country reads 15.8. Against 2002, 214 values changed (109 up, 105 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2003

HighestQatar

83.9

Lowest3 countries share it

2.1

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end. A higher value is the worse result.

220countries
4measures per country
2003the year it describes
159distinct 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, 2003, 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, 2003: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	QatarQATWestern Asia	83.9	89.0	100.0	100.0
2	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	65.7	76.8	100.0	89.2
3	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	62.6	57.1	100.0	100.0
4	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	56.2	44.2	100.0	87.3
5	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	55.5	50.3	100.0	93.9
6	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	55.1	58.3	100.0	99.0
7	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	50.7	42.2	100.0	91.6
8	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	50.4	53.7	100.0	99.7
9	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	44.1	41.9	100.0	79.4
10	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	43.8	41.4	100.0	74.9
11	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	42.7	27.9	100.0	64.6
12	OmanOMNWestern Asia	40.6	41.9	100.0	82.3
13	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	39.8	33.8	100.0	48.8
14	NigerNERWestern Africa	39.2	42.2	100.0	64.0
15	IraqIRQWestern Asia	38.6	34.8	100.0	54.9
16	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	38.3	29.4	100.0	45.1
17	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	36.3	43.5	100.0	33.5
18	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	35.4	36.3	100.0	50.8
19	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	34.9	28.9	100.0	53.0
20	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	34.5	31.6	100.0	44.2
21	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	34.2	34.6	100.0	42.0
22	IranIRNSouthern Asia	34.1	36.4	100.0	43.3
23	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	33.1	31.0	100.0	43.2
24	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	33.0	36.6	100.0	35.1
25	SenegalSENWestern Africa	31.7	31.1	100.0	17.2
26	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	30.6	28.8	100.0	1.0
27	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	29.3	27.7	100.0	11.1
28	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	28.9	24.7	100.0	18.2
29	MaliMLIWestern Africa	28.7	31.0	100.0	13.5
30	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	28.6	26.7	100.0	13.5
=31	BeninBENWestern Africa	28.4	29.0	100.0	8.8
=31	TogoTGOWestern Africa	28.4	27.3	100.0	11.5
33	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	28.1	24.0	100.0	24.0
34	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	27.7	22.1	100.0	20.4
35	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	27.5	26.4	100.0	7.0
=36	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	27.1	24.3	100.0	9.3
=36	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	27.1	21.2	100.0	11.7
38	EritreaERIEastern Africa	26.7	28.2	100.0	9.2
39	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	26.4	24.7	100.0	0.0
=40	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	26.2	20.5	100.0	9.1
=40	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	26.2	19.9	100.0	12.4
=42	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	26.1	20.6	100.0	10.6
=42	PolandPOLEastern Europe	26.1	23.0	100.0	14.0
44	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	25.7	24.6	100.0	0.0
45	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	25.6	25.9	100.0	2.0
46	JordanJORWestern Asia	25.1	26.6	100.0	12.3
=47	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	24.8	21.3	100.0	4.3
=47	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	24.8	15.2	100.0	11.4
49	YemenYEMWestern Asia	24.7	29.0	100.0	2.2
=50	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	24.6	23.0	100.0	0.0
=50	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	24.6	20.6	100.0	4.8
52	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	24.1	23.5	100.0	0.4
53	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	23.8	21.8	100.0	3.5
54	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	23.6	24.0	100.0	2.0
55	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	23.1	23.7	100.0	6.6
56	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	22.9	30.4	100.0	8.1
57	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	22.8	20.7	100.0	0.8
58	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	22.7	22.1	100.0	0.0
59	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	22.6	17.4	98.9	18.9
60	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	22.4	20.2	100.0	5.6
61	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	22.1	20.7	100.0	0.0
=62	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	21.8	21.2	100.0	0.0
=62	GuineaGINWestern Africa	21.8	20.6	100.0	6.4
64	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	21.6	19.8	100.0	1.2
=65	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	21.5	18.7	100.0	0.0
=65	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	21.5	18.6	100.0	2.7
=65	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	21.5	23.5	100.0	1.2
68	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	21.4	19.1	100.0	0.3
=69	HondurasHNDCentral America	21.3	16.5	100.0	2.9
=69	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	21.3	18.3	100.0	0.0
71	Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe	21.1	21.1	100.0	0.0
=72	BoliviaBOLSouth America	21.0	20.2	100.0	1.6
=72	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	21.0	20.3	100.0	0.0
74	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	20.8	18.6	100.0	0.0
75	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	20.6	19.9	100.0	0.0
76	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	20.5	17.8	100.0	0.0
77	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	20.4	19.1	100.0	0.1
=78	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	19.8	18.7	100.0	0.0
=78	PalestinePSEWestern Asia	19.8	18.9	100.0	0.1
80	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	19.4	17.4	100.0	0.0
81	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	19.2	19.5	100.0	2.1
82	ItalyITASouthern Europe	19.0	15.3	100.0	0.0
=83	IsraelISRWestern Asia	18.9	23.7	100.0	0.0
=83	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	18.9	18.7	100.0	0.2
85	ChileCHLSouth America	18.6	13.1	99.9	1.2
86	San MarinoSMRSouthern Europe	18.0	17.7	100.0	0.0
87	MexicoMEXCentral America	17.6	11.3	100.0	0.0
=88	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	17.4	16.6	100.0	0.0
=88	VenezuelaVENSouth America	17.4	14.8	100.0	0.1
90	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	17.3	16.8	100.0	0.0
91	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	17.2	13.9	100.0	0.0
92	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	16.9	15.0	100.0	0.0
=93	EcuadorECUSouth America	16.8	14.2	99.9	0.0
=93	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	16.8	14.4	100.0	0.4
95	PeruPERSouth America	16.7	15.7	100.0	3.9
=96	KenyaKENEastern Africa	16.4	12.7	100.0	0.0
=96	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	16.4	16.6	100.0	0.0
98	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	16.3	14.9	100.0	0.0
=99	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	16.2	15.2	100.0	0.0
=99	ColombiaCOLSouth America	16.2	15.6	100.0	0.0
=99	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	16.2	12.8	100.0	0.4
=102	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	16.1	16.3	100.0	0.0
=102	NicaraguaNICCentral America	16.1	12.3	100.0	0.0
=104	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	16.0	16.4	100.0	0.0
=104	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	16.0	15.3	100.0	0.0
=104	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	16.0	11.9	100.0	0.7
=104	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	16.0	16.6	100.0	0.0
=108	Costa RicaCRICentral America	15.9	14.4	100.0	0.0
=108	UkraineUKREastern Europe	15.9	14.4	100.0	0.0
=110	JapanJPNEastern Asia	15.8	15.2	100.0	0.0
=110	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	15.8	10.5	95.7	12.1
112	Northern CyprusXNCWestern Asia	15.7	15.5	100.0	0.0
=113	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	15.6	16.3	100.0	0.0
=113	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	15.6	15.3	100.0	0.0
115	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	15.5	15.3	100.0	0.0
116	ParaguayPRYSouth America	15.3	15.8	100.0	0.0
=117	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	15.2	12.3	100.0	0.0
=117	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	15.2	17.8	100.0	0.1
119	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	15.1	14.0	100.0	0.0
=120	LiechtensteinLIEWestern Europe	14.9	14.0	100.0	0.0
=120	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	14.9	13.3	100.0	0.0
=122	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	14.6	23.9	100.0	0.6
=122	FranceFRAWestern Europe	14.6	12.5	100.0	0.0
=122	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	14.6	10.6	99.9	0.0
=125	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	14.5	12.0	100.0	0.1
=125	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	14.5	14.2	100.0	0.0
=127	BelarusBLREastern Europe	14.4	13.1	100.0	0.0
=127	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	14.4	9.6	98.0	1.0
=127	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	14.4	14.3	100.0	0.0
130	PanamaPANCentral America	14.2	13.6	100.0	0.0
=131	GabonGABMiddle Africa	14.1	12.9	100.0	0.0
=131	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	14.1	10.4	99.9	0.6
=133	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	13.8	13.3	100.0	0.0
=133	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	13.8	10.1	100.0	0.0
135	MonacoMCOWestern Europe	13.7	13.7	100.0	0.0
=136	ArgentinaARGSouth America	13.5	11.4	99.4	0.5
=136	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	13.5	12.1	100.0	0.0
=136	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	13.5	10.9	100.0	0.0
139	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	13.0	12.3	100.0	0.0
=140	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	12.9	11.1	100.0	0.0
=140	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	12.9	11.6	100.0	0.0
142	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	12.8	10.6	99.6	0.0
143	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	12.7	10.9	100.0	0.1
=144	BrazilBRASouth America	12.5	15.3	99.5	0.0
=144	HaitiHTICaribbean	12.5	10.9	100.0	0.0
=144	SpainESPSouthern Europe	12.5	10.3	100.0	0.0
147	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	12.3	14.2	100.0	0.0
148	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	12.2	12.4	100.0	0.0
=149	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	11.7	11.4	100.0	0.0
=149	United StatesUSANorthern America	11.7	6.9	99.3	0.0
=151	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	11.5	9.4	100.0	0.0
=151	UruguayURYSouth America	11.5	10.0	100.0	0.0
=153	SurinameSURSouth America	11.3	11.1	100.0	0.0
=153	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	11.3	10.1	100.0	0.0
155	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	11.2	10.8	100.0	0.0
156	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	11.1	8.6	100.0	0.0
157	GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe	10.9	11.0	100.0	0.0
158	BelizeBLZCentral America	10.8	11.1	100.0	0.0
159	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	10.6	11.0	100.0	0.0
=160	CubaCUBCaribbean	10.5	9.5	100.0	0.0
=160	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	10.5	10.1	100.0	0.0
162	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	10.4	9.9	100.0	0.0
163	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	10.3	9.2	100.0	0.0
164	GuyanaGUYSouth America	10.1	11.1	100.0	0.0
=165	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	9.6	9.3	100.0	0.0
=165	CuraçaoCUWCaribbean	9.6	9.5	100.0	0.0
=165	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	9.6	9.5	100.0	0.0
=165	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	9.6	9.2	100.0	0.0
=165	Isle of ManIMNNorthern Europe	9.6	8.9	100.0	0.0
=170	ArubaABWCaribbean	9.2	9.4	99.3	0.0
=170	Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean	9.2	8.9	100.0	0.0
=172	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	9.0	9.5	99.0	0.0
=172	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	9.0	8.3	100.0	0.0
174	CanadaCANNorthern America	8.9	4.0	97.1	0.0
175	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	8.5	7.3	100.0	0.0
176	Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	8.4	7.7	97.0	0.0
177	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	8.2	4.6	89.3	0.0
178	DominicaDMACaribbean	7.9	7.7	99.8	0.0
=179	AndorraANDSouthern Europe	7.6	6.3	100.0	0.0
=179	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	7.6	7.1	85.7	0.0
181	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	7.5	7.2	100.0	0.0
182	Sint MaartenSXMCaribbean	7.3	6.6	96.1	0.0
183	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	7.2	5.5	91.0	0.0
=184	BermudaBMUNorthern America	7.1	7.0	100.0	0.0
=184	Puerto RicoPRICaribbean	7.1	6.8	99.6	0.0
=184	United States Virgin IslandsVIRCaribbean	7.1	7.0	98.6	0.0
187	Saint MartinMAFCaribbean	7.0	6.6	89.3	0.0
188	BahamasBHSCaribbean	6.9	6.8	99.8	0.0
=189	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	6.8	4.1	74.6	0.0
=189	Saint Kitts and NevisKNACaribbean	6.8	6.9	88.0	0.0
191	AnguillaAIACaribbean	6.5	6.4	91.5	0.0
=192	British Virgin IslandsVGBCaribbean	6.4	6.3	98.5	0.0
=192	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	6.4	4.4	78.7	0.0
194	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	6.3	5.8	97.4	0.0
=195	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	6.1	5.2	67.1	0.0
=195	MontserratMSRCaribbean	6.1	6.8	83.0	0.0
=197	FijiFJIMelanesia	5.2	4.6	56.8	0.0
=197	Turks and Caicos IslandsTCACaribbean	5.2	5.4	77.5	0.0
199	Faroe IslandsFRONorthern Europe	5.1	5.0	64.5	0.0
200	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	4.9	5.0	41.0	0.0
201	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	4.3	3.7	19.0	0.0
202	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	4.0	4.1	0.4	0.0
=203	PalauPLWMicronesia	3.9	4.0	0.0	0.0
=203	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	3.9	3.8	0.0	0.0
205	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	3.8	3.7	0.0	0.0
206	TongaTONPolynesia	3.7	3.7	0.1	0.0
207	GuamGUMMicronesia	3.2	3.2	0.0	0.0
=208	New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia	3.1	2.9	0.0	0.0
=208	Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia	3.1	3.1	0.0	0.0
210	SamoaWSMPolynesia	2.9	2.8	0.0	0.0
211	American SamoaASMPolynesia	2.8	2.8	0.0	0.0
212	KiribatiKIRMicronesia	2.7	2.8	0.0	0.0
=213	Marshall IslandsMHLMicronesia	2.6	1.4	0.0	0.0
=213	NiueNIUPolynesia	2.6	2.6	0.0	0.0
215	MicronesiaFSMMicronesia	2.5	2.5	0.0	0.0
216	TuvaluTUVPolynesia	2.4	2.4	0.0	0.0
217	NauruNRUMicronesia	2.2	2.3	0.0	0.0
=218	Cook IslandsCOKPolynesia	2.1	2.1	0.0	0.0
=218	French PolynesiaPYFPolynesia	2.1	-2.0	0.0	0.0
=218	GreenlandGRLNorthern America	2.1	1.3	0.0	0.0

02In 2003

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar83.9
2Lesotho65.7
3Kuwait62.6
4Saudi Arabia56.2
5Bangladesh55.5

Lowest

218French Polynesiashared2.1
218Greenlandshared2.1
218Cook Islandsshared2.1
217Nauru2.2
216Tuvalu2.4

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 15.8. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar89.0
LowestFrench Polynesia-2.0
Middle country: 14.4
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest164 share it
Lowest17 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
Highest2 share it
Lowest139 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032002 → 2003

Since 2002

What changed between 2002 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
214values changed, of 220 in both
109 · 105rose · fell
6unchanged

Rose most

Lesotho26.6 → 65.7+39.1
Egypt28.6 → 50.7+22.1
Kuwait47.4 → 62.6+15.2
Bangladesh40.7 → 55.5+14.8
Bahrain42.6 → 55.1+12.5

Fell most

Burkina Faso41.1 → 27.5−13.6
Mali41.6 → 28.7−12.9
Niger50.7 → 39.2−11.5
Nigeria44.0 → 34.2−9.8
Guinea31.0 → 21.8−9.2

Changes in value, not in places: a country’s place also moves when others do. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

The site’s method

159 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 5 countries share 9.6. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.
Which end is better
A higher value is the worse result.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 220 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

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-2003-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group’s own file, on its own site.
e673hbmsl75gechxnrjotenel6k4hdfc

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0. Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.

Cite this edition

Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis (2003). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2003 [data set], describing 2003. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2003

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2002
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2004
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

07Questions