Data for 2015

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2015

Figures for 2015, as Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2015 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 82.6; Greenland is lowest, at 1.9. The middle country reads 16.5. Against 2014, 213 values changed (130 up, 83 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2015

HighestQatar

82.6

LowestGreenland

1.9

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
2015the year it describes
172distinct 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, 2015, 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, 2015: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	QatarQATWestern Asia	82.6	90.4	100.0	100.0
2	NigerNERWestern Africa	73.1	61.6	100.0	99.9
3	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	63.4	58.9	100.0	99.1
4	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	63.0	53.9	100.0	91.1
5	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	58.3	62.8	100.0	100.0
6	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	57.5	45.9	100.0	91.5
7	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	54.6	57.8	100.0	67.7
8	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	53.6	50.7	100.0	100.0
9	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	53.5	43.6	100.0	76.5
10	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	52.4	59.5	100.0	92.9
11	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	50.9	40.0	100.0	74.6
12	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	50.5	31.5	100.0	76.2
13	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	49.8	52.2	100.0	100.0
14	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	49.5	53.5	100.0	99.6
=15	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	49.3	47.4	100.0	100.0
=15	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	49.3	35.0	100.0	91.0
17	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	45.8	34.1	100.0	80.6
18	MaliMLIWestern Africa	44.8	46.5	100.0	99.0
19	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	44.7	42.2	100.0	77.1
20	IraqIRQWestern Asia	43.4	39.2	100.0	66.3
21	OmanOMNWestern Asia	42.3	41.4	100.0	84.8
22	BeninBENWestern Africa	41.2	45.3	100.0	87.7
23	TogoTGOWestern Africa	41.1	41.7	100.0	97.9
24	SenegalSENWestern Africa	40.0	40.4	100.0	87.1
25	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	39.0	37.2	100.0	86.9
26	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	38.4	37.7	100.0	60.1
27	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	37.7	36.6	100.0	65.5
28	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	37.6	37.7	100.0	60.4
29	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	35.2	34.6	100.0	56.4
=30	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	35.1	29.1	100.0	30.0
=30	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	35.1	33.9	100.0	41.3
32	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	34.9	33.4	100.0	41.8
33	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	34.8	43.2	100.0	36.2
34	GuineaGINWestern Africa	33.7	33.5	100.0	32.3
35	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	33.4	32.2	100.0	27.3
36	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	33.1	28.1	100.0	29.3
37	IranIRNSouthern Asia	31.6	32.6	100.0	21.6
38	YemenYEMWestern Asia	31.4	34.8	100.0	22.4
=39	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	30.8	32.8	100.0	16.7
=39	JordanJORWestern Asia	30.8	26.3	100.0	19.2
41	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	30.7	27.4	100.0	30.5
=42	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	30.3	30.5	100.0	7.9
=42	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	30.3	29.2	100.0	0.2
44	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	29.9	26.9	100.0	10.8
45	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	29.6	23.7	100.0	22.2
46	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	29.5	30.7	100.0	25.4
47	EritreaERIEastern Africa	29.4	31.6	100.0	19.0
48	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	28.8	28.3	100.0	5.1
49	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	28.7	25.7	100.0	24.2
50	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	28.2	29.4	100.0	4.9
51	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	27.7	24.2	100.0	12.7
52	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	26.9	24.0	100.0	0.0
53	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	26.7	21.3	100.0	14.9
54	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	26.6	25.9	100.0	0.0
55	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	26.3	20.2	100.0	16.3
56	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	26.0	26.8	100.0	2.0
57	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	25.9	18.7	100.0	20.8
58	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	25.7	26.0	100.0	13.3
=59	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	25.6	21.6	100.0	3.2
=59	GabonGABMiddle Africa	25.6	26.6	100.0	12.8
61	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	25.3	25.5	100.0	0.5
62	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	25.0	16.4	100.0	19.9
63	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	24.9	26.7	100.0	1.8
64	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	24.8	24.5	100.0	2.6
65	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	24.1	20.8	100.0	4.8
66	PalestinePSEWestern Asia	23.8	24.2	100.0	0.4
67	BoliviaBOLSouth America	23.4	19.7	100.0	8.4
=68	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	23.2	22.9	100.0	0.0
=68	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	23.2	17.1	100.0	1.7
70	IsraelISRWestern Asia	22.7	24.7	100.0	0.1
71	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	22.6	14.6	100.0	13.1
72	KenyaKENEastern Africa	22.4	16.3	100.0	1.0
73	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	22.3	20.7	100.0	0.3
=74	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	22.1	21.3	100.0	0.1
=74	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	22.1	16.5	100.0	18.1
76	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	21.6	18.6	100.0	8.6
77	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	21.4	19.4	100.0	0.5
78	ChileCHLSouth America	21.2	22.4	99.9	1.9
79	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	20.8	16.4	100.0	0.0
80	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	20.7	20.4	100.0	2.0
81	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	20.2	19.5	100.0	0.0
82	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	20.0	17.8	100.0	0.0
83	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	19.9	18.7	100.0	0.4
84	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	19.8	18.6	100.0	0.4
85	PolandPOLEastern Europe	19.5	17.4	100.0	0.0
=86	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	19.2	20.0	100.0	0.0
=86	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	19.2	19.5	100.0	0.0
88	PeruPERSouth America	19.1	18.4	100.0	1.0
=89	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	18.8	24.5	100.0	0.2
=89	Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe	18.8	18.8	100.0	0.0
=91	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	18.6	17.2	100.0	0.1
=91	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	18.6	15.0	100.0	0.0
93	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	18.5	18.5	100.0	0.0
94	VenezuelaVENSouth America	18.0	14.9	100.0	0.0
=95	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	17.9	16.6	100.0	0.0
=95	Costa RicaCRICentral America	17.9	15.7	100.0	0.0
=95	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	17.9	16.6	100.0	0.0
98	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	17.7	16.9	100.0	0.0
=99	ColombiaCOLSouth America	17.4	16.9	100.0	0.0
=99	EcuadorECUSouth America	17.4	16.3	99.9	0.0
101	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	17.2	17.6	100.0	0.0
=102	ItalyITASouthern Europe	17.1	13.7	100.0	0.0
=102	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	17.1	15.9	100.0	0.0
=104	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	17.0	16.0	100.0	0.0
=104	HondurasHNDCentral America	17.0	13.5	100.0	0.0
=106	NicaraguaNICCentral America	16.9	14.4	100.0	0.0
=106	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	16.9	14.8	100.0	0.0
=108	Northern CyprusXNCWestern Asia	16.6	16.5	100.0	0.0
=108	PanamaPANCentral America	16.6	15.5	100.0	0.0
=110	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	16.5	14.8	100.0	0.0
=110	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	16.5	14.1	100.0	0.0
112	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	16.4	14.2	100.0	0.0
113	MexicoMEXCentral America	16.3	9.3	99.9	0.0
=114	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	16.2	14.5	100.0	0.0
=114	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	16.2	12.4	100.0	0.7
116	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	16.1	14.5	100.0	0.0
117	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	15.8	15.5	100.0	0.1
=118	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	15.6	15.4	100.0	0.0
=118	San MarinoSMRSouthern Europe	15.6	15.3	100.0	0.0
120	JapanJPNEastern Asia	15.4	13.6	100.0	0.0
121	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	15.3	12.1	100.0	0.0
=122	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	15.1	16.4	100.0	0.0
=122	UkraineUKREastern Europe	15.1	14.1	100.0	0.0
124	CuraçaoCUWCaribbean	14.9	13.9	100.0	0.0
125	SurinameSURSouth America	14.8	13.3	100.0	0.0
126	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	14.6	13.4	100.0	0.0
=127	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	14.5	14.1	100.0	0.0
=127	ParaguayPRYSouth America	14.5	14.3	100.0	0.0
129	HaitiHTICaribbean	14.4	12.8	100.0	0.0
130	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	14.3	13.7	99.8	0.0
=131	BelarusBLREastern Europe	14.2	13.5	100.0	0.0
=131	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	14.2	14.9	100.0	0.0
133	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	14.0	10.7	100.0	0.0
134	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	13.9	13.7	100.0	0.0
=135	BrazilBRASouth America	13.8	16.7	100.0	0.0
=135	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	13.8	13.3	100.0	0.0
=135	GuyanaGUYSouth America	13.8	13.6	100.0	0.0
=135	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	13.8	18.1	99.9	0.2
139	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	13.7	12.9	100.0	0.0
140	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	13.6	30.0	100.0	1.4
141	ArubaABWCaribbean	13.3	13.3	100.0	0.0
142	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	13.2	10.9	100.0	0.0
143	ArgentinaARGSouth America	13.0	15.2	100.0	0.7
144	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	12.8	7.2	97.4	0.0
145	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	12.7	12.9	100.0	0.0
=146	GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe	12.5	12.5	100.0	0.0
=146	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	12.5	13.4	100.0	0.0
=148	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	12.4	11.3	100.0	0.0
=148	UruguayURYSouth America	12.4	9.6	100.0	0.0
150	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	12.2	11.8	100.0	0.0
=151	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	12.1	11.0	100.0	0.0
=151	MonacoMCOWestern Europe	12.1	12.0	100.0	0.0
=151	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	12.1	11.6	100.0	0.0
154	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	11.9	10.9	100.0	0.0
=155	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	11.7	11.5	100.0	0.0
=155	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	11.7	9.9	100.0	0.0
=157	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	11.5	10.5	100.0	0.0
=157	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	11.5	11.5	97.2	0.0
159	FranceFRAWestern Europe	11.4	9.4	100.0	0.0
160	SpainESPSouthern Europe	11.2	9.0	100.0	0.0
161	BelizeBLZCentral America	10.9	11.1	100.0	0.0
=162	LiechtensteinLIEWestern Europe	10.7	10.1	100.0	0.0
=162	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	10.7	12.7	100.0	0.0
=164	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	10.4	8.8	100.0	0.0
=164	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	10.4	9.9	100.0	0.0
166	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	10.2	8.9	100.0	0.0
=167	CubaCUBCaribbean	10.1	8.7	100.0	0.0
=167	DominicaDMACaribbean	10.1	9.9	100.0	0.0
=167	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	10.1	9.2	96.8	0.0
=170	Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	9.8	9.2	100.0	0.0
=170	Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean	9.8	9.1	100.0	0.0
=172	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	9.6	7.6	90.0	0.0
=172	Saint Kitts and NevisKNACaribbean	9.6	9.5	100.0	0.0
=172	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	9.6	7.4	99.9	0.0
175	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	9.5	8.6	100.0	0.0
176	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	9.3	9.4	100.0	0.0
177	MontserratMSRCaribbean	8.9	9.4	100.0	0.0
178	Puerto RicoPRICaribbean	8.5	8.6	100.0	0.0
179	United StatesUSANorthern America	8.2	5.9	98.3	0.0
180	Sint MaartenSXMCaribbean	8.0	8.1	100.0	0.0
181	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	7.7	7.0	100.0	0.0
=182	AndorraANDSouthern Europe	7.6	7.2	100.0	0.0
=182	CanadaCANNorthern America	7.6	4.7	95.6	0.0
184	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	7.5	6.8	99.8	0.0
185	Saint MartinMAFCaribbean	7.3	7.2	100.0	0.0
186	Isle of ManIMNNorthern Europe	7.1	6.5	100.0	0.0
187	United States Virgin IslandsVIRCaribbean	6.9	6.8	99.9	0.0
188	British Virgin IslandsVGBCaribbean	6.8	6.8	99.9	0.0
189	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	6.6	4.2	84.9	0.0
190	PalauPLWMicronesia	6.5	6.5	100.0	0.0
191	AnguillaAIACaribbean	6.4	6.5	100.0	0.0
=192	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	6.3	6.7	93.6	0.0
=192	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	6.3	6.3	100.0	0.0
=192	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	6.3	6.2	96.5	0.0
=195	BahamasBHSCaribbean	6.1	6.3	95.9	0.0
=195	Turks and Caicos IslandsTCACaribbean	6.1	6.0	93.6	0.0
197	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	5.8	5.8	83.8	0.0
=198	BermudaBMUNorthern America	5.7	5.8	81.0	0.0
=198	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	5.7	4.3	67.5	0.0
=198	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	5.7	4.2	73.1	0.0
201	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	5.1	4.9	71.5	0.0
202	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	4.7	4.8	31.0	0.0
=203	FijiFJIMelanesia	4.5	4.3	16.2	0.3
=203	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	4.5	4.7	7.2	0.0
=205	Faroe IslandsFRONorthern Europe	4.4	4.3	1.7	0.0
=205	KiribatiKIRMicronesia	4.4	3.7	10.3	0.0
=205	NauruNRUMicronesia	4.4	4.4	0.0	0.0
208	GuamGUMMicronesia	4.3	4.3	0.0	0.0
209	SamoaWSMPolynesia	4.0	3.8	0.0	0.0
210	Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia	3.8	3.7	0.0	0.0
211	TuvaluTUVPolynesia	3.7	3.6	0.0	0.0
212	New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia	3.6	3.8	0.1	0.0
213	MicronesiaFSMMicronesia	3.5	3.6	0.0	0.0
214	Marshall IslandsMHLMicronesia	3.1	2.0	0.2	0.0
215	American SamoaASMPolynesia	3.0	2.7	0.0	0.0
216	TongaTONPolynesia	2.6	2.5	0.0	0.0
217	French PolynesiaPYFPolynesia	2.4	-1.8	0.0	0.0
218	NiueNIUPolynesia	2.3	2.2	0.0	0.0
219	Cook IslandsCOKPolynesia	2.2	2.3	0.0	0.0
220	GreenlandGRLNorthern America	1.9	1.9	0.0	0.0

02In 2015

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar82.6
2Niger73.1
3Bangladesh63.4
4Saudi Arabia63.0
5Bahrain58.3

Lowest

220Greenland1.9
219Cook Islands2.2
218Niue2.3
217French Polynesia2.4
216Tonga2.6

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 16.5. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar90.4
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.8
Middle country: 15.1
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest176 share it
Lowest12 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
Highest5 share it
Lowest133 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032014 → 2015

Since 2014

What changed between 2014 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
213values changed, of 220 in both
130 · 83rose · fell
7unchanged

Rose most

Niger41.5 → 73.1+31.6
Chad31.4 → 52.4+21.0
Burkina Faso29.4 → 49.3+19.9
Nigeria35.0 → 54.6+19.6
Sudan28.6 → 44.7+16.1

Fell most

Lesotho67.0 → 34.8−32.2
Bangladesh77.1 → 63.4−13.7
Uganda42.2 → 33.1−9.1
Burundi39.8 → 33.4−6.4
El Salvador26.4 → 20.0−6.4

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

172 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 13.8. 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-2015-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 (2015). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2015 [data set], describing 2015. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2015

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2014
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2016
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