Data for 2017

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2017

Figures for 2017, as Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2017 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 83.2; Greenland is lowest, at 1.8. The middle country reads 15.9. Against 2016, 213 values changed (102 up, 111 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2017

HighestQatar

83.2

LowestGreenland

1.8

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
2017the year it describes
163distinct 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, 2017, 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, 2017: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	QatarQATWestern Asia	83.2	95.1	100.0	100.0
2	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	63.1	57.2	100.0	96.1
3	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	60.6	45.9	100.0	87.4
4	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	57.3	61.8	100.0	100.0
5	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	57.2	62.3	100.0	98.7
6	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	55.8	46.6	100.0	79.5
7	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	55.3	43.9	100.0	88.5
8	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	54.5	57.6	100.0	92.7
9	NigerNERWestern Africa	50.3	49.6	100.0	98.6
10	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	48.0	52.4	100.0	98.4
11	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	47.7	35.6	100.0	84.8
12	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	46.6	49.4	100.0	69.2
13	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	45.6	50.2	100.0	84.4
14	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	44.4	33.4	100.0	59.2
15	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	43.8	27.4	100.0	68.8
16	SenegalSENWestern Africa	43.3	40.9	100.0	96.8
17	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	42.8	43.0	100.0	64.0
18	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	42.6	46.5	100.0	96.1
19	IraqIRQWestern Asia	42.2	39.3	100.0	66.2
20	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	41.2	32.6	100.0	79.7
21	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	40.4	39.8	100.0	92.5
22	BeninBENWestern Africa	39.1	38.5	100.0	78.8
23	OmanOMNWestern Asia	38.8	38.8	100.0	73.8
24	TogoTGOWestern Africa	36.6	37.1	100.0	62.1
25	MaliMLIWestern Africa	36.5	38.8	100.0	50.5
26	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	36.1	33.7	100.0	35.7
27	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	35.7	27.5	100.0	36.2
28	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	35.2	33.5	100.0	60.1
29	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	34.4	32.5	100.0	42.7
30	IranIRNSouthern Asia	33.5	34.1	100.0	34.6
31	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	33.3	31.1	100.0	29.9
32	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	33.1	33.7	100.0	39.2
=33	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	31.7	31.6	100.0	50.6
=33	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	31.7	23.9	100.0	33.4
=35	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	31.1	30.4	100.0	30.5
=35	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	31.1	31.0	100.0	23.8
37	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	30.5	17.2	100.0	41.3
38	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	30.3	27.0	100.0	21.6
=39	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	29.9	27.5	100.0	16.9
=39	YemenYEMWestern Asia	29.9	30.8	100.0	21.0
41	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	29.6	23.8	100.0	18.3
42	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	29.5	28.2	100.0	6.9
43	GuineaGINWestern Africa	29.2	28.1	100.0	12.1
44	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	28.9	23.4	100.0	22.2
45	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	28.3	21.0	99.9	30.6
46	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	28.0	24.7	100.0	27.8
47	JordanJORWestern Asia	27.6	26.3	100.0	18.1
=48	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	27.3	26.0	100.0	11.0
=48	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	27.3	27.6	100.0	5.6
50	EritreaERIEastern Africa	27.1	30.3	100.0	19.1
51	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	27.0	28.6	100.0	0.5
52	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	25.7	22.7	100.0	4.3
53	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	25.5	13.9	100.0	16.4
=54	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	25.3	21.6	100.0	6.2
=54	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	25.3	24.5	100.0	0.0
=56	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	24.8	21.0	100.0	7.4
=56	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	24.8	21.9	100.0	6.6
58	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	24.4	25.9	100.0	1.5
59	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	24.2	24.2	100.0	0.0
60	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	24.1	22.7	100.0	0.0
61	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	23.9	19.0	100.0	2.6
62	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	23.7	23.0	100.0	0.3
63	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	23.4	19.6	100.0	2.0
64	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	22.9	21.7	100.0	2.3
65	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	22.1	21.6	100.0	0.0
66	GabonGABMiddle Africa	22.0	22.2	100.0	0.0
67	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	21.5	18.6	100.0	10.5
68	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	21.4	13.0	99.8	17.2
69	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	21.0	18.6	100.0	1.0
=70	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	20.9	20.0	100.0	0.0
=70	KenyaKENEastern Africa	20.9	13.9	100.0	0.0
72	HondurasHNDCentral America	20.7	16.7	100.0	0.2
73	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	20.6	19.5	100.0	0.0
74	BoliviaBOLSouth America	20.5	19.7	100.0	0.9
75	PolandPOLEastern Europe	20.4	18.0	100.0	0.0
76	PalestinePSEWestern Asia	20.2	20.6	99.7	0.0
=77	ChileCHLSouth America	19.6	15.3	99.9	0.2
=77	IsraelISRWestern Asia	19.6	22.2	100.0	0.1
79	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	19.5	13.9	100.0	1.3
80	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	19.4	18.4	100.0	0.0
81	VenezuelaVENSouth America	19.2	16.1	100.0	0.0
82	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	19.1	17.3	100.0	0.0
83	Costa RicaCRICentral America	19.0	17.0	100.0	0.0
84	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	18.9	18.3	100.0	0.0
=85	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	18.8	17.5	100.0	0.0
=85	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	18.8	16.4	100.0	0.0
=85	PeruPERSouth America	18.8	16.7	100.0	6.1
=85	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	18.8	13.9	100.0	2.1
89	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	18.6	18.6	100.0	0.0
90	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	18.4	26.3	100.0	0.4
=91	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	18.0	17.2	100.0	0.0
=91	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	18.0	13.3	100.0	8.1
=93	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	17.4	16.9	100.0	0.0
=93	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	17.4	16.9	100.0	0.4
=95	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	17.3	16.2	100.0	0.0
=95	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	17.3	17.1	100.0	0.0
=97	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	17.2	15.9	100.0	0.0
=97	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	17.2	18.4	100.0	0.0
=97	EcuadorECUSouth America	17.2	15.3	99.9	0.0
=97	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	17.2	14.4	100.0	0.0
=97	NicaraguaNICCentral America	17.2	15.2	100.0	0.0
102	Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe	17.1	17.1	100.0	0.0
103	MexicoMEXCentral America	17.0	9.7	99.8	0.0
104	ColombiaCOLSouth America	16.8	16.6	100.0	0.0
105	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	16.6	12.9	100.0	0.0
106	ItalyITASouthern Europe	16.5	12.8	100.0	0.0
107	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	16.4	15.0	100.0	0.0
108	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	16.3	12.2	100.0	0.0
109	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	16.2	15.9	100.0	0.0
110	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	16.0	13.6	100.0	0.0
=111	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	15.8	16.8	100.0	0.0
=111	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	15.8	13.6	100.0	0.0
=113	Northern CyprusXNCWestern Asia	15.7	15.5	100.0	0.0
=113	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	15.7	16.7	100.0	0.0
=113	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	15.7	13.3	100.0	0.1
116	PanamaPANCentral America	15.3	14.4	100.0	0.0
117	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	15.2	13.8	100.0	0.0
=118	SurinameSURSouth America	14.8	14.6	100.0	0.0
=118	UkraineUKREastern Europe	14.8	13.7	100.0	0.0
=120	ArgentinaARGSouth America	14.5	13.5	100.0	1.2
=120	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	14.5	12.8	100.0	0.0
122	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	14.4	14.2	100.0	0.1
123	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	14.1	26.8	100.0	1.0
=124	GuyanaGUYSouth America	14.0	14.2	100.0	0.0
=124	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	14.0	13.5	100.0	0.0
=126	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	13.8	12.6	100.0	0.3
=126	ParaguayPRYSouth America	13.8	15.1	100.0	0.0
=128	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	13.7	13.9	100.0	0.0
=128	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	13.7	12.5	100.0	0.0
=130	BelarusBLREastern Europe	13.4	12.3	100.0	0.0
=130	JapanJPNEastern Asia	13.4	11.8	100.0	0.0
=130	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	13.4	13.2	100.0	0.0
=133	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	13.3	15.3	100.0	0.1
=133	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	13.3	15.9	100.0	0.0
135	BrazilBRASouth America	13.1	16.5	99.9	0.0
=136	HaitiHTICaribbean	13.0	12.1	100.0	0.0
=136	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	13.0	9.9	100.0	0.0
=136	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	13.0	7.4	97.6	0.0
=136	San MarinoSMRSouthern Europe	13.0	12.6	100.0	0.0
140	BelizeBLZCentral America	12.9	13.5	100.0	0.0
141	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	12.8	11.9	99.9	0.0
142	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	12.7	14.3	100.0	0.0
=143	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	12.5	12.3	100.0	0.0
=143	UruguayURYSouth America	12.5	9.7	100.0	0.0
=143	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	12.5	11.9	100.0	0.0
146	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	12.1	9.9	99.9	0.0
=147	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	12.0	11.7	100.0	0.0
=147	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	12.0	11.6	100.0	0.0
=149	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	11.6	10.5	100.0	0.0
=149	CuraçaoCUWCaribbean	11.6	11.4	100.0	0.0
151	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	11.5	9.6	96.2	3.6
=152	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	11.3	10.5	100.0	0.0
=152	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	11.3	11.2	100.0	0.0
=152	MonacoMCOWestern Europe	11.3	11.2	100.0	0.0
155	Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	11.2	9.7	99.8	0.0
156	ArubaABWCaribbean	11.0	11.2	100.0	0.0
157	Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean	10.8	9.6	100.0	0.0
=158	Sint MaartenSXMCaribbean	10.6	10.3	100.0	0.0
=158	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	10.6	9.9	100.0	0.0
=160	GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe	10.5	10.9	100.0	0.0
=160	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	10.5	9.5	100.0	0.0
162	SpainESPSouthern Europe	10.4	8.5	99.9	0.0
=163	FranceFRAWestern Europe	10.3	8.5	99.8	0.0
=163	MontserratMSRCaribbean	10.3	9.3	100.0	0.0
=163	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	10.3	10.2	97.8	0.0
=163	Saint Kitts and NevisKNACaribbean	10.3	10.0	100.0	0.0
167	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	10.0	8.4	98.4	0.0
168	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	9.9	8.9	100.0	0.0
=169	DominicaDMACaribbean	9.8	9.5	100.0	0.0
=169	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	9.8	7.5	99.6	0.0
171	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	9.7	7.9	99.3	0.0
172	Saint MartinMAFCaribbean	9.6	9.5	100.0	0.0
173	CubaCUBCaribbean	9.5	8.4	100.0	0.0
174	LiechtensteinLIEWestern Europe	9.4	9.1	100.0	0.0
175	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	9.0	7.3	100.0	0.0
=176	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	8.9	8.2	99.9	0.0
=176	Puerto RicoPRICaribbean	8.9	8.6	100.0	0.0
178	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	8.7	6.3	85.2	0.0
179	United States Virgin IslandsVIRCaribbean	8.6	8.1	100.0	0.0
=180	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	8.5	8.1	99.6	0.0
=180	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	8.5	8.2	100.0	0.0
182	AnguillaAIACaribbean	8.1	8.2	100.0	0.0
183	British Virgin IslandsVGBCaribbean	8.0	7.5	100.0	0.0
184	United StatesUSANorthern America	7.9	5.6	98.2	0.0
185	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	7.6	7.0	99.4	0.0
186	Turks and Caicos IslandsTCACaribbean	7.2	6.3	96.9	0.0
187	CanadaCANNorthern America	7.0	5.0	93.0	0.0
188	BahamasBHSCaribbean	6.8	6.5	98.6	0.0
189	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	6.6	6.4	99.3	0.0
190	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	6.3	6.1	99.9	0.0
=191	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	6.2	6.4	90.3	0.0
=191	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	6.2	5.7	92.6	0.0
=191	Isle of ManIMNNorthern Europe	6.2	5.9	92.8	0.0
=194	AndorraANDSouthern Europe	6.0	5.3	65.8	0.0
=194	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	6.0	6.0	100.0	0.0
196	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	5.5	5.6	73.8	0.0
=197	BermudaBMUNorthern America	5.4	5.4	76.9	0.0
=197	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	5.4	3.6	54.3	0.0
199	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	5.3	3.5	56.8	0.0
=200	FijiFJIMelanesia	5.2	4.7	60.1	0.0
=200	TongaTONPolynesia	5.2	4.8	56.1	0.0
202	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	4.9	5.0	19.2	0.0
203	SamoaWSMPolynesia	4.8	4.5	28.4	0.0
204	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	4.6	3.4	31.3	0.0
=205	American SamoaASMPolynesia	4.5	4.1	8.5	0.0
=205	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	4.5	3.6	26.9	0.0
=207	New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia	4.0	4.4	7.4	0.0
=207	PalauPLWMicronesia	4.0	4.0	0.3	0.0
209	Faroe IslandsFRONorthern Europe	3.9	3.8	0.1	0.0
=210	NiueNIUPolynesia	3.4	3.5	0.0	0.0
=210	TuvaluTUVPolynesia	3.4	3.5	0.0	0.0
212	GuamGUMMicronesia	3.3	3.2	0.0	0.0
=213	Marshall IslandsMHLMicronesia	3.0	1.8	0.1	0.0
=213	Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia	3.0	3.2	0.0	0.0
=215	MicronesiaFSMMicronesia	2.9	3.0	0.0	0.0
=215	NauruNRUMicronesia	2.9	2.9	0.0	0.0
=217	Cook IslandsCOKPolynesia	2.7	2.6	0.0	0.0
=217	KiribatiKIRMicronesia	2.7	2.9	0.4	0.0
219	French PolynesiaPYFPolynesia	2.5	-1.6	0.0	0.0
220	GreenlandGRLNorthern America	1.8	1.6	0.0	0.0

02In 2017

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar83.2
2Bangladesh63.1
3Saudi Arabia60.6
4Kuwait57.3
5Bahrain57.2

Lowest

220Greenland1.8
219French Polynesia2.5
217Kiribatishared2.7
217Cook Islandsshared2.7
215Naurushared2.9

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 15.9. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar95.1
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.6
Middle country: 14.3
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest163 share it
Lowest9 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

032016 → 2017

Since 2016

What changed between 2016 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
213values changed, of 220 in both
102 · 111rose · fell
7unchanged

Rose most

Sudan34.7 → 42.8+8.1
Lesotho46.6 → 54.5+7.9
Senegal37.9 → 43.3+5.4
Guinea-Bissau30.4 → 35.2+4.8
Saudi Arabia56.2 → 60.6+4.4

Fell most

Niger64.0 → 50.3−13.7
Burkina Faso43.3 → 36.1−7.2
Egypt54.6 → 47.7−6.9
São Tomé and Príncipe20.8 → 14.0−6.8
Nepal47.3 → 41.2−6.1

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

163 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 5 countries share 17.2. 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-2017-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 (2017). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2017 [data set], describing 2017. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2017

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2016
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2018
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