Data for 2008

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2008

Figures for 2008, as Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2008 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 89.9; French Polynesia is lowest, at 2.0. The middle country reads 16.0. Against 2007, 210 values changed (103 up, 107 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2008

HighestQatar

89.9

LowestFrench Polynesia

2.0

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
2008the year it describes
164distinct 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, 2008, 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, 2008: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	QatarQATWestern Asia	89.9	107.8	100.0	100.0
2	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	66.6	66.5	100.0	100.0
3	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	61.3	67.9	100.0	89.6
4	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	61.0	55.3	100.0	94.0
5	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	56.9	59.7	100.0	99.6
6	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	56.0	42.2	100.0	79.2
7	NigerNERWestern Africa	52.2	46.7	100.0	98.9
8	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	51.2	55.6	100.0	99.0
9	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	50.0	41.5	100.0	79.8
10	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	49.4	39.1	100.0	77.5
11	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	48.8	49.4	100.0	77.5
12	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	48.5	28.9	100.0	79.3
13	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	47.9	39.9	100.0	66.5
14	IraqIRQWestern Asia	45.2	39.6	100.0	73.5
15	TogoTGOWestern Africa	42.7	43.5	100.0	96.7
16	BeninBENWestern Africa	42.2	43.8	100.0	92.7
17	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	41.6	30.3	100.0	57.1
18	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	41.2	43.2	100.0	67.6
19	OmanOMNWestern Asia	39.1	40.7	100.0	81.0
20	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	38.4	29.5	100.0	56.4
21	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	37.6	42.9	100.0	34.9
22	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	36.7	34.9	100.0	48.8
=23	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	36.2	37.8	100.0	58.0
=23	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	36.2	34.2	100.0	46.5
=25	MaliMLIWestern Africa	35.0	34.1	100.0	36.3
=25	SenegalSENWestern Africa	35.0	32.7	100.0	36.6
27	IranIRNSouthern Asia	34.8	34.7	100.0	44.8
28	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	34.6	29.9	100.0	41.8
29	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	32.8	30.2	100.0	27.0
30	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	31.6	33.4	100.0	29.4
31	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	31.4	32.2	100.0	32.7
=32	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	31.3	24.8	100.0	25.6
=32	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	31.3	31.1	100.0	21.6
34	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	30.9	30.2	100.0	21.2
35	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	30.6	28.4	100.0	4.8
=36	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	30.2	25.2	100.0	27.2
=36	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	30.2	24.0	100.0	28.6
38	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	29.5	28.5	100.0	4.2
=39	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	28.8	26.6	100.0	13.2
=39	GuineaGINWestern Africa	28.8	27.9	100.0	12.7
=41	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	28.7	30.1	100.0	5.0
=41	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	28.7	19.0	100.0	29.0
43	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	28.0	25.3	100.0	31.2
44	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	27.6	27.1	100.0	17.4
45	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	27.4	25.9	100.0	0.9
46	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	27.2	22.3	100.0	12.3
47	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	27.0	23.6	100.0	10.5
=48	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	26.7	25.9	100.0	9.3
=48	YemenYEMWestern Asia	26.7	29.2	100.0	8.9
50	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	26.5	19.5	99.8	25.1
=51	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	25.6	22.4	100.0	8.7
=51	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	25.6	21.1	100.0	9.3
53	JordanJORWestern Asia	25.5	23.5	100.0	13.8
54	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	25.1	24.3	100.0	0.0
55	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	25.0	23.3	100.0	0.0
56	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	24.9	24.5	100.0	0.2
=57	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	24.7	21.1	100.0	6.9
=57	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	24.7	22.2	100.0	0.0
=57	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	24.7	22.7	100.0	6.6
60	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	24.5	23.0	100.0	0.0
61	EritreaERIEastern Africa	24.0	26.8	100.0	5.7
62	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	23.6	20.6	100.0	0.7
63	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	22.8	14.8	100.0	11.5
64	KenyaKENEastern Africa	22.6	14.9	100.0	10.6
65	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	22.5	21.1	100.0	0.3
=66	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	22.4	17.0	100.0	10.0
=66	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	22.4	20.8	100.0	3.3
68	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	22.2	20.0	100.0	2.2
69	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	21.9	17.9	100.0	0.8
70	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	21.6	22.1	100.0	1.3
71	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	21.2	20.4	100.0	0.0
72	Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe	21.0	21.0	100.0	0.0
=73	HondurasHNDCentral America	20.8	16.6	100.0	0.7
=73	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	20.8	27.6	100.0	2.2
75	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	20.7	18.9	100.0	0.4
76	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	20.6	19.0	100.0	1.0
77	PolandPOLEastern Europe	20.5	18.0	100.0	0.5
78	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	19.9	18.7	100.0	7.7
79	BoliviaBOLSouth America	19.4	16.1	100.0	1.3
80	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	19.3	20.0	100.0	0.0
81	ChileCHLSouth America	19.2	14.1	99.9	0.2
82	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	19.1	17.9	100.0	0.0
83	PalestinePSEWestern Asia	18.9	18.7	100.0	0.0
84	IsraelISRWestern Asia	18.8	23.1	100.0	0.2
85	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	18.7	19.3	100.0	0.0
86	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	18.5	18.9	100.0	0.0
87	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	18.4	16.4	100.0	0.0
88	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	18.2	15.5	100.0	0.2
89	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	18.0	15.6	100.0	0.0
=90	GabonGABMiddle Africa	17.9	17.3	100.0	0.0
=90	ItalyITASouthern Europe	17.9	13.9	100.0	0.0
92	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	17.6	19.1	100.0	0.0
=93	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	17.5	10.4	99.6	0.6
=93	PeruPERSouth America	17.5	15.1	100.0	1.3
=93	VenezuelaVENSouth America	17.5	14.3	100.0	0.0
=96	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	17.4	15.6	100.0	0.0
=96	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	17.4	16.6	100.0	0.0
98	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	17.3	14.1	100.0	0.0
=99	Northern CyprusXNCWestern Asia	17.2	16.8	100.0	0.0
=99	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	17.2	14.3	100.0	0.4
=99	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	17.2	15.9	100.0	0.0
102	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	16.8	13.0	99.9	2.8
=103	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	16.7	14.4	100.0	0.0
=103	MexicoMEXCentral America	16.7	10.6	100.0	0.0
105	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	16.6	15.3	100.0	0.0
106	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	16.4	15.8	100.0	0.0
=107	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	16.2	14.9	100.0	0.7
=107	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	16.2	17.4	100.0	0.0
109	JapanJPNEastern Asia	16.1	15.0	100.0	0.0
=110	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	16.0	10.9	98.9	12.2
=110	NicaraguaNICCentral America	16.0	13.5	100.0	0.0
=110	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	16.0	15.3	100.0	0.5
=113	Costa RicaCRICentral America	15.9	15.0	100.0	0.0
=113	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	15.9	15.4	100.0	0.0
115	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	15.8	17.0	100.0	0.0
=116	San MarinoSMRSouthern Europe	15.6	15.3	100.0	0.0
=116	UkraineUKREastern Europe	15.6	14.4	100.0	0.0
118	ColombiaCOLSouth America	15.5	15.5	100.0	0.0
=119	EcuadorECUSouth America	15.4	14.2	99.9	0.0
=119	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	15.4	16.0	100.0	0.0
=121	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	15.1	10.5	99.1	0.0
=121	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	15.1	14.7	100.0	0.0
=123	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	14.8	10.5	100.0	0.0
=123	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	14.8	17.0	100.0	0.0
=125	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	14.7	24.0	100.0	0.4
=125	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	14.7	14.6	100.0	0.6
127	BelarusBLREastern Europe	14.6	13.7	100.0	0.0
128	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	14.5	13.0	100.0	0.0
129	PanamaPANCentral America	14.4	13.3	100.0	0.0
130	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	14.3	12.8	100.0	0.0
131	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	14.2	13.8	100.0	0.2
132	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	14.1	14.6	100.0	0.0
133	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	13.9	12.9	100.0	0.0
134	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	13.7	7.4	97.8	0.0
=135	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	13.6	10.8	100.0	0.0
=135	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	13.6	12.6	100.0	0.0
=137	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	13.5	11.0	100.0	0.0
=137	FranceFRAWestern Europe	13.5	11.6	99.9	0.0
=137	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	13.5	15.8	100.0	0.4
140	ArgentinaARGSouth America	13.2	11.4	100.0	1.8
141	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	13.0	10.6	100.0	0.0
=142	BrazilBRASouth America	12.8	13.7	100.0	0.1
=142	HaitiHTICaribbean	12.8	12.4	100.0	0.0
=142	SurinameSURSouth America	12.8	12.2	100.0	0.0
=145	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	12.7	12.4	100.0	0.0
=145	UruguayURYSouth America	12.7	9.1	100.0	0.0
147	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	12.6	12.2	100.0	0.0
148	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	12.3	9.8	100.0	0.0
149	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	12.2	12.8	100.0	0.0
150	LiechtensteinLIEWestern Europe	11.9	11.1	100.0	0.0
151	ParaguayPRYSouth America	11.8	11.8	100.0	0.0
152	MonacoMCOWestern Europe	11.7	11.1	100.0	0.0
=153	GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe	11.4	11.6	100.0	0.0
=153	SpainESPSouthern Europe	11.4	9.0	99.8	0.0
155	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	11.3	12.1	99.6	0.0
=156	GuyanaGUYSouth America	11.2	11.9	100.0	0.0
=156	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	11.2	8.9	99.8	0.0
158	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	10.9	10.5	100.0	0.0
=159	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	10.4	10.0	100.0	0.0
=159	United StatesUSANorthern America	10.4	6.3	99.2	0.0
161	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	10.3	9.2	96.0	0.0
162	BelizeBLZCentral America	10.0	10.5	100.0	0.0
163	CubaCUBCaribbean	9.9	8.5	100.0	0.0
=164	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	9.5	8.4	100.0	0.0
=164	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	9.5	7.8	99.5	0.0
=166	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	9.2	9.0	100.0	0.0
=166	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	9.2	8.5	100.0	0.0
168	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	8.9	8.0	100.0	0.0
169	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	8.8	8.7	100.0	0.0
=170	Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean	8.7	8.4	100.0	0.0
=170	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	8.7	8.2	99.9	0.0
172	CuraçaoCUWCaribbean	8.0	8.1	100.0	0.0
173	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	7.9	7.7	100.0	0.0
=174	CanadaCANNorthern America	7.8	4.0	94.1	0.0
=174	Saint MartinMAFCaribbean	7.8	7.4	98.5	0.0
=176	Isle of ManIMNNorthern Europe	7.6	7.0	98.7	0.0
=176	Saint Kitts and NevisKNACaribbean	7.6	7.5	99.2	0.0
=178	Sint MaartenSXMCaribbean	7.5	7.0	100.0	0.0
=178	United States Virgin IslandsVIRCaribbean	7.5	7.4	95.5	0.0
=180	Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	7.4	7.1	99.5	0.0
=180	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	7.4	6.5	83.6	0.0
182	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	7.2	7.2	98.1	0.0
183	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	7.1	4.0	87.1	0.0
=184	BahamasBHSCaribbean	6.9	6.3	98.8	0.0
=184	Puerto RicoPRICaribbean	6.9	6.7	99.8	0.0
186	ArubaABWCaribbean	6.8	5.9	79.4	0.0
=187	AnguillaAIACaribbean	6.5	6.5	98.7	0.0
=187	DominicaDMACaribbean	6.5	6.4	99.5	0.0
=187	MontserratMSRCaribbean	6.5	6.6	100.0	0.0
190	British Virgin IslandsVGBCaribbean	6.4	6.3	95.6	0.0
191	BermudaBMUNorthern America	6.3	6.3	89.3	0.0
=192	AndorraANDSouthern Europe	6.2	5.1	62.4	0.0
=192	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	6.2	5.7	97.0	0.0
194	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	6.0	3.7	69.7	0.0
195	Turks and Caicos IslandsTCACaribbean	5.8	5.5	94.1	0.0
=196	FijiFJIMelanesia	5.7	5.3	84.2	0.0
=196	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	5.7	4.0	65.8	0.0
=198	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	5.4	5.3	69.9	0.0
=198	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	5.4	5.4	84.6	0.0
=200	PalauPLWMicronesia	4.4	4.3	4.0	0.0
=200	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	4.4	4.2	6.7	0.0
202	TongaTONPolynesia	4.3	4.1	7.3	0.0
203	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	4.2	4.4	4.7	0.0
204	Faroe IslandsFRONorthern Europe	4.0	3.9	0.4	0.0
205	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	3.9	3.8	0.0	0.0
=206	KiribatiKIRMicronesia	3.7	3.1	20.2	0.0
=206	New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia	3.7	3.6	0.3	0.0
208	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	3.6	3.1	10.5	0.0
=209	Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia	3.4	3.5	0.0	0.0
=209	SamoaWSMPolynesia	3.4	3.3	0.0	0.0
211	GuamGUMMicronesia	3.3	3.3	0.0	0.0
212	TuvaluTUVPolynesia	3.1	3.2	0.0	0.0
=213	American SamoaASMPolynesia	3.0	2.9	0.0	0.0
=213	Marshall IslandsMHLMicronesia	3.0	1.8	0.1	0.0
=213	NauruNRUMicronesia	3.0	3.0	0.0	0.0
=213	NiueNIUPolynesia	3.0	3.0	0.0	0.0
217	MicronesiaFSMMicronesia	2.9	2.9	0.0	0.0
218	Cook IslandsCOKPolynesia	2.2	2.3	0.0	0.0
219	GreenlandGRLNorthern America	2.1	1.4	0.0	0.0
220	French PolynesiaPYFPolynesia	2.0	-2.0	0.0	0.0

02In 2008

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar89.9
2Kuwait66.6
3Lesotho61.3
4Bangladesh61.0
5Bahrain56.9

Lowest

220French Polynesia2.0
219Greenland2.1
218Cook Islands2.2
217Micronesia2.9
213Naurushared3.0

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 16.0. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar107.8
LowestFrench Polynesia-2.0
Middle country: 14.8
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest159 share it
Lowest12 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
Highest2 share it
Lowest131 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032007 → 2008

Since 2007

What changed between 2007 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
210values changed, of 220 in both
103 · 107rose · fell
10unchanged

Rose most

Kuwait54.7 → 66.6+11.9
Iraq38.3 → 45.2+6.9
Egypt43.1 → 49.4+6.3
Turkmenistan25.9 → 31.4+5.5
Togo37.4 → 42.7+5.3

Fell most

Niger62.4 → 52.2−10.2
Lesotho69.5 → 61.3−8.2
Paraguay19.0 → 11.8−7.2
Gambia39.4 → 32.8−6.6
Laos31.0 → 24.5−6.5

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

164 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 3.0. 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-2008-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 (2008). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2008 [data set], describing 2008. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2008

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2007
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2009
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