Data for 2019

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2019

Figures for 2019, as Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2019 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Bangladesh is highest, at 77.1; Greenland is lowest, at 2.4. The middle country reads 14.9. Against 2018, 216 values changed (91 up, 125 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2019

HighestBangladesh

77.1

LowestGreenland

2.4

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
2019the year it describes
168distinct 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, 2019, 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, 2019: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	77.1	68.5	100.0	97.5
2	QatarQATWestern Asia	72.0	72.4	100.0	99.8
3	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	59.1	65.9	100.0	89.7
4	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	57.3	42.9	100.0	78.2
5	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	56.6	55.6	100.0	100.0
6	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	51.8	58.7	100.0	97.3
7	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	51.4	42.7	100.0	77.8
8	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	50.5	33.3	100.0	91.7
9	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	46.4	37.8	100.0	77.0
10	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	46.0	54.8	100.0	98.1
11	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	44.2	33.4	100.0	83.9
12	NigerNERWestern Africa	42.7	39.9	100.0	66.0
13	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	41.2	41.4	100.0	51.3
14	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	38.2	37.7	100.0	44.9
15	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	37.7	24.6	100.0	51.8
16	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	37.0	32.9	100.0	46.9
17	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	36.5	39.6	100.0	42.7
18	IraqIRQWestern Asia	36.3	33.0	100.0	46.1
19	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	35.2	26.8	100.0	31.8
20	OmanOMNWestern Asia	34.7	36.2	100.0	43.2
21	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	34.3	30.9	100.0	46.3
22	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	34.2	33.8	100.0	66.2
23	IranIRNSouthern Asia	32.8	32.1	100.0	37.0
=24	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	32.7	29.9	100.0	24.0
=24	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	32.7	29.1	100.0	30.4
26	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	32.6	30.4	100.0	33.4
27	MaliMLIWestern Africa	32.5	31.3	100.0	26.8
28	SenegalSENWestern Africa	31.8	29.1	100.0	30.9
29	JordanJORWestern Asia	31.4	26.6	100.0	26.8
30	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	30.8	27.3	100.0	18.9
31	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	30.7	25.7	100.0	29.0
32	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	30.4	21.5	100.0	36.2
33	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	30.3	29.2	100.0	10.7
34	TogoTGOWestern Africa	30.0	26.7	100.0	20.4
35	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	29.8	29.8	100.0	27.3
36	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	29.6	28.6	100.0	19.4
=37	BeninBENWestern Africa	29.2	29.3	100.0	7.3
=37	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	29.2	16.9	99.7	30.7
39	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	28.8	19.5	100.0	41.2
40	YemenYEMWestern Asia	27.9	30.2	100.0	12.2
41	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	27.7	24.3	99.7	28.2
42	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	27.4	26.7	100.0	0.3
43	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	27.2	22.9	100.0	6.7
44	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	26.9	25.5	100.0	12.3
=45	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	26.3	23.5	100.0	8.3
=45	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	26.3	16.1	100.0	17.1
=45	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	26.3	22.8	100.0	13.3
48	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	26.2	24.0	100.0	8.4
49	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	25.7	24.7	100.0	0.7
50	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	25.5	20.1	100.0	12.3
51	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	25.2	25.7	100.0	4.0
52	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	24.9	21.7	100.0	0.7
=53	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	24.6	23.1	100.0	0.7
=53	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	24.6	21.5	100.0	8.0
=55	GuineaGINWestern Africa	24.3	21.6	100.0	10.3
=55	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	24.3	21.8	100.0	0.0
57	GabonGABMiddle Africa	23.7	24.3	100.0	0.7
=58	PalestinePSEWestern Asia	23.3	23.5	100.0	0.9
=58	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	23.3	22.5	100.0	0.0
=60	BoliviaBOLSouth America	23.0	21.0	100.0	0.8
=60	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	23.0	23.5	100.0	4.8
62	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	22.7	20.7	100.0	0.0
63	EritreaERIEastern Africa	22.2	23.9	100.0	2.9
64	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	22.0	18.7	100.0	0.3
65	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	21.9	22.4	100.0	0.1
66	HondurasHNDCentral America	21.8	16.7	100.0	1.2
=67	IsraelISRWestern Asia	21.6	24.7	100.0	0.3
=67	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	21.6	23.5	100.0	0.0
69	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	21.3	21.3	100.0	0.3
70	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	21.1	18.4	100.0	7.2
71	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	20.9	15.0	100.0	6.7
72	KenyaKENEastern Africa	20.7	15.1	100.0	2.3
73	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	20.6	20.6	100.0	0.0
74	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	20.5	14.7	99.2	4.2
75	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	20.3	17.6	100.0	6.4
76	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	20.1	17.2	100.0	1.9
77	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	19.7	19.0	100.0	0.0
78	EcuadorECUSouth America	19.5	18.2	99.9	0.0
79	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	19.3	25.7	100.0	1.7
80	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	19.2	14.8	100.0	5.2
81	PeruPERSouth America	18.6	17.5	99.4	2.7
=82	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	18.5	16.2	100.0	0.1
=82	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	18.5	16.4	100.0	0.0
=82	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	18.5	17.5	100.0	0.0
=82	VenezuelaVENSouth America	18.5	15.8	100.0	0.0
86	ColombiaCOLSouth America	18.4	18.5	100.0	0.0
=87	ChileCHLSouth America	18.3	16.0	99.9	0.1
=87	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	18.3	13.3	99.6	8.2
89	Costa RicaCRICentral America	18.1	16.4	100.0	0.0
90	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	18.0	15.8	100.0	0.0
91	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	17.7	16.7	100.0	0.0
92	MexicoMEXCentral America	17.4	9.9	99.4	0.0
=93	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	17.2	16.3	100.0	0.0
=93	PolandPOLEastern Europe	17.2	15.2	100.0	0.0
95	PanamaPANCentral America	16.5	16.7	100.0	0.0
96	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	16.3	16.4	100.0	0.0
=97	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	16.1	11.7	100.0	0.0
=97	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	16.1	14.7	100.0	0.0
=99	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	16.0	14.9	100.0	0.0
=99	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	16.0	17.2	100.0	0.0
=99	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	16.0	15.5	100.0	0.0
=102	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	15.7	13.6	99.7	0.0
=102	NicaraguaNICCentral America	15.7	13.2	99.9	0.0
=104	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	15.4	13.2	100.0	0.8
=104	ParaguayPRYSouth America	15.4	16.3	100.0	0.0
=104	SurinameSURSouth America	15.4	14.7	100.0	0.0
107	Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe	15.2	15.2	100.0	0.0
108	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	15.0	13.0	100.0	0.0
=109	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	14.9	16.0	100.0	0.0
=109	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	14.9	14.8	100.0	0.0
111	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	14.8	13.9	100.0	0.0
112	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	14.6	14.0	100.0	0.0
113	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	14.5	15.2	100.0	0.0
=114	ItalyITASouthern Europe	14.4	11.4	99.9	0.0
=114	Northern CyprusXNCWestern Asia	14.4	14.4	100.0	0.0
116	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	14.3	14.8	100.0	0.2
=117	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	14.1	15.4	100.0	0.0
=117	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	14.1	13.3	100.0	0.0
119	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	14.0	13.2	100.0	0.0
=120	ArgentinaARGSouth America	13.9	13.2	100.0	0.2
=120	UkraineUKREastern Europe	13.9	12.8	100.0	0.0
=122	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	13.7	13.4	100.0	0.0
=122	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	13.7	12.7	100.0	0.0
124	JapanJPNEastern Asia	13.6	12.5	100.0	0.0
125	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	13.5	13.3	100.0	0.0
=126	HaitiHTICaribbean	13.4	12.0	100.0	0.0
=126	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	13.4	15.1	100.0	0.0
=128	BrazilBRASouth America	13.3	16.2	99.8	0.0
=128	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	13.3	11.4	100.0	0.0
=128	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	13.3	11.3	100.0	0.0
131	GuyanaGUYSouth America	13.2	14.2	100.0	0.0
132	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	13.1	11.1	98.6	0.0
=133	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	13.0	19.8	100.0	0.1
=133	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	13.0	13.4	100.0	0.0
135	BelarusBLREastern Europe	12.9	11.8	100.0	0.0
136	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	12.8	12.0	100.0	0.0
=137	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	12.7	12.2	100.0	0.0
=137	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	12.7	9.7	100.0	0.0
139	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	12.6	12.4	100.0	0.0
=140	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	12.5	10.5	97.2	4.2
=140	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	12.5	11.6	100.0	0.0
142	UruguayURYSouth America	12.4	10.0	100.0	0.0
143	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	12.1	14.1	100.0	0.0
144	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	12.0	11.4	100.0	0.0
=145	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	11.9	13.3	100.0	0.0
=145	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	11.9	11.8	100.0	0.0
=147	San MarinoSMRSouthern Europe	11.7	11.4	100.0	0.0
=147	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	11.7	11.2	100.0	0.0
149	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	11.5	11.9	100.0	0.0
150	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	11.0	10.7	100.0	0.0
151	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	10.9	10.6	100.0	0.0
152	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	10.7	9.6	100.0	0.0
=153	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	10.6	8.6	99.3	0.0
=153	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	10.6	9.5	100.0	0.0
=155	Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	10.4	8.6	99.3	0.0
=155	GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe	10.4	10.7	100.0	0.0
157	BelizeBLZCentral America	10.3	10.8	100.0	0.0
158	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	10.2	7.9	92.2	0.0
=159	ArubaABWCaribbean	10.1	9.3	100.0	0.0
=159	SpainESPSouthern Europe	10.1	7.8	99.8	0.0
161	MonacoMCOWestern Europe	10.0	9.8	100.0	0.0
162	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	9.9	7.9	99.9	0.0
163	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	9.6	8.9	100.0	0.0
164	CuraçaoCUWCaribbean	9.5	9.2	99.7	0.0
=165	Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean	9.4	8.9	100.0	0.0
=165	FranceFRAWestern Europe	9.4	7.8	99.7	0.0
=167	CubaCUBCaribbean	9.3	7.7	99.3	0.0
=167	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	9.3	7.7	100.0	0.0
=169	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	9.2	6.4	97.6	0.0
=169	Saint MartinMAFCaribbean	9.2	8.7	100.0	0.0
171	DominicaDMACaribbean	9.1	8.7	100.0	0.0
=172	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	8.9	8.3	100.0	0.0
=172	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	8.9	8.4	100.0	0.0
=174	MontserratMSRCaribbean	8.8	8.0	100.0	0.0
=174	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	8.8	7.5	99.4	0.0
=176	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	8.7	8.0	100.0	0.0
=176	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	8.7	6.8	98.1	0.0
178	LiechtensteinLIEWestern Europe	8.6	8.3	100.0	0.0
179	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	8.1	8.6	95.6	0.0
180	Sint MaartenSXMCaribbean	7.9	7.5	100.0	0.0
=181	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	7.8	7.0	98.1	0.0
=181	Saint Kitts and NevisKNACaribbean	7.8	8.0	99.0	0.0
=183	Puerto RicoPRICaribbean	7.4	7.1	99.9	0.0
=183	United StatesUSANorthern America	7.4	5.4	96.0	0.0
185	Isle of ManIMNNorthern Europe	7.3	6.7	99.9	0.0
186	AnguillaAIACaribbean	7.0	6.9	96.8	0.0
187	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	6.8	6.0	98.1	0.0
=188	British Virgin IslandsVGBCaribbean	6.5	5.7	89.7	0.0
=188	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	6.5	6.5	100.0	0.0
=188	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	6.5	6.3	99.3	0.0
=188	United States Virgin IslandsVIRCaribbean	6.5	6.3	89.9	0.0
192	CanadaCANNorthern America	6.4	4.5	86.8	0.0
193	AndorraANDSouthern Europe	6.3	5.7	85.2	0.0
194	Turks and Caicos IslandsTCACaribbean	5.9	5.1	78.1	0.0
195	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	5.8	3.8	74.6	0.0
196	BahamasBHSCaribbean	5.7	5.3	68.0	0.0
197	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	5.6	5.5	97.8	0.0
198	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	5.5	3.6	63.7	0.0
199	FijiFJIMelanesia	5.4	4.7	57.8	0.1
200	BermudaBMUNorthern America	5.2	5.2	73.9	0.0
201	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	5.1	3.9	47.1	0.0
=202	Faroe IslandsFRONorthern Europe	4.9	4.6	41.9	0.0
=202	PalauPLWMicronesia	4.9	5.1	47.4	0.0
204	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	4.8	4.7	27.9	0.0
205	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	4.7	4.1	32.4	0.0
206	TuvaluTUVPolynesia	4.5	4.3	7.9	0.0
=207	NauruNRUMicronesia	4.3	4.3	0.0	0.0
=207	New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia	4.3	4.6	9.8	0.0
209	TongaTONPolynesia	4.0	3.6	14.9	0.0
210	SamoaWSMPolynesia	3.9	3.6	0.0	0.0
211	KiribatiKIRMicronesia	3.6	3.1	1.2	0.0
=212	American SamoaASMPolynesia	3.5	3.3	0.0	0.0
=212	GuamGUMMicronesia	3.5	3.4	0.0	0.0
=214	Marshall IslandsMHLMicronesia	3.2	2.0	0.1	0.0
=214	NiueNIUPolynesia	3.2	3.1	0.0	0.0
=214	Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia	3.2	3.3	0.0	0.0
217	MicronesiaFSMMicronesia	3.1	3.3	0.0	0.0
218	French PolynesiaPYFPolynesia	2.6	-1.6	0.0	0.0
219	Cook IslandsCOKPolynesia	2.5	2.5	0.0	0.0
220	GreenlandGRLNorthern America	2.4	1.4	0.0	0.0

02In 2019

At either end

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

Highest

1Bangladesh77.1
2Qatar72.0
3Lesotho59.1
4Saudi Arabia57.3
5Kuwait56.6

Lowest

220Greenland2.4
219Cook Islands2.5
218French Polynesia2.6
217Micronesia3.1
214Niueshared3.2

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 14.9. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar72.4
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.6
Middle country: 14.3
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest155 share it
Lowest10 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
HighestKuwait100.0
Lowest137 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032018 → 2019

Since 2018

What changed between 2018 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
216values changed, of 220 in both
91 · 125rose · fell
4unchanged

Rose most

Lesotho32.0 → 59.1+27.1
Egypt36.5 → 50.5+14.0
Bangladesh71.6 → 77.1+5.5
Honduras16.5 → 21.8+5.3
El Salvador19.3 → 24.6+5.3

Fell most

Qatar88.3 → 72.0−16.3
Pakistan59.1 → 46.4−12.7
Oman47.4 → 34.7−12.7
Niger54.9 → 42.7−12.2
Sudan40.5 → 29.6−10.9

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

168 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 18.5. 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-2019-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 (2019). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2019 [data set], describing 2019. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2019

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2018
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2020
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