Data for 2020

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2020

Figures for 2020, as Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2020 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 78.4; Greenland is lowest, at 1.7. The middle country reads 14.8. Against 2019, 215 values changed (102 up, 113 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2020

HighestQatar

78.4

LowestGreenland

1.7

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
2020the year it describes
167distinct 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, 2020, 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, 2020: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	QatarQATWestern Asia	78.4	77.4	100.0	99.7
2	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	64.1	57.2	100.0	98.9
3	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	57.7	43.6	100.0	83.5
4	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	55.3	53.9	100.0	100.0
5	NigerNERWestern Africa	54.3	47.6	100.0	98.4
6	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	50.4	39.6	100.0	77.8
7	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	48.4	40.9	100.0	77.3
8	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	47.9	53.0	100.0	91.6
9	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	47.8	49.8	100.0	91.6
10	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	47.6	47.4	100.0	71.1
11	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	47.1	49.9	100.0	98.6
12	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	41.9	31.5	100.0	83.9
13	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	40.8	41.9	100.0	79.3
14	IraqIRQWestern Asia	39.9	35.2	100.0	56.3
15	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	38.5	32.5	100.0	48.1
16	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	37.6	28.5	100.0	61.2
17	OmanOMNWestern Asia	37.1	36.3	100.0	62.0
18	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	36.8	42.6	100.0	34.3
19	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	35.9	32.6	100.0	32.3
20	SenegalSENWestern Africa	35.7	33.1	100.0	50.8
21	TogoTGOWestern Africa	35.2	34.0	100.0	44.4
22	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	35.0	34.1	100.0	62.0
23	BeninBENWestern Africa	34.6	35.6	100.0	40.4
=24	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	34.4	27.5	100.0	31.6
=24	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	34.4	30.2	100.0	33.9
26	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	34.1	29.3	100.0	39.8
27	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	34.0	23.5	100.0	43.4
=28	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	32.6	32.5	100.0	39.1
=28	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	32.6	27.7	100.0	36.2
=28	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	32.6	31.7	100.0	22.3
31	MaliMLIWestern Africa	32.3	34.4	100.0	33.8
32	IranIRNSouthern Asia	32.0	32.3	100.0	24.8
33	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	31.4	32.7	100.0	31.7
34	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	31.3	23.7	100.0	38.9
35	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	30.7	24.8	100.0	13.0
36	YemenYEMWestern Asia	30.3	30.0	100.0	14.9
37	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	29.8	29.1	100.0	21.3
=38	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	29.7	29.3	100.0	21.2
=38	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	29.7	17.4	100.0	33.7
40	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	29.5	27.9	100.0	8.7
=41	JordanJORWestern Asia	28.3	25.3	100.0	15.5
=41	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	28.3	23.3	100.0	19.3
43	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	28.0	18.7	100.0	28.7
44	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	27.8	25.1	100.0	7.2
45	GuineaGINWestern Africa	27.6	26.0	100.0	11.2
=46	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	27.1	19.3	100.0	33.5
=46	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	27.1	11.9	100.0	16.2
48	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	26.9	25.3	100.0	5.1
=49	BoliviaBOLSouth America	26.5	24.6	100.0	6.5
=49	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	26.5	24.8	100.0	9.5
51	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	25.7	20.4	100.0	8.0
=52	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	25.6	24.3	100.0	0.0
=52	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	25.6	25.5	100.0	1.3
=54	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	25.4	22.8	100.0	0.3
=54	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	25.4	21.6	100.0	7.1
=54	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	25.4	24.1	100.0	4.4
57	EritreaERIEastern Africa	25.1	26.8	100.0	5.6
58	GabonGABMiddle Africa	24.8	24.6	100.0	0.5
59	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	24.5	24.4	100.0	2.7
60	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	24.3	24.5	100.0	1.6
61	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	24.2	22.9	100.0	0.0
62	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	23.7	22.6	100.0	0.8
=63	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	22.9	22.0	100.0	1.4
=63	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	22.9	19.3	100.0	0.2
65	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	22.7	19.6	100.0	0.0
66	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	22.5	23.7	100.0	0.1
67	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	22.2	15.0	100.0	21.6
68	HondurasHNDCentral America	22.1	17.3	100.0	0.0
69	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	21.9	17.9	100.0	2.6
70	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	21.6	19.7	100.0	0.0
71	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	21.5	21.2	100.0	0.9
72	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	21.0	19.1	100.0	0.0
73	KenyaKENEastern Africa	20.8	16.6	100.0	0.0
74	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	20.5	19.7	100.0	0.0
75	PalestinePSEWestern Asia	20.4	21.3	99.8	0.0
76	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	20.1	18.9	100.0	0.4
77	IsraelISRWestern Asia	19.6	22.3	100.0	0.0
78	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	19.5	14.1	100.0	4.7
79	ParaguayPRYSouth America	19.4	21.9	100.0	0.0
80	VenezuelaVENSouth America	19.3	16.1	100.0	0.3
81	PeruPERSouth America	18.9	18.5	100.0	0.6
82	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	18.8	13.4	100.0	11.1
83	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	18.3	16.1	100.0	0.3
=84	ChileCHLSouth America	18.1	15.4	99.9	0.0
=84	ColombiaCOLSouth America	18.1	19.0	100.0	0.0
86	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	17.9	16.7	100.0	0.0
87	Costa RicaCRICentral America	17.6	15.7	100.0	0.0
88	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	17.5	15.1	100.0	1.8
=89	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	17.3	16.7	100.0	0.0
=89	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	17.3	16.5	100.0	0.1
=89	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	17.3	17.1	100.0	0.0
=92	MexicoMEXCentral America	17.0	9.9	99.8	0.0
=92	NicaraguaNICCentral America	17.0	14.1	100.0	0.0
94	PanamaPANCentral America	16.6	15.1	100.0	0.0
=95	EcuadorECUSouth America	16.5	15.4	100.0	0.0
=95	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	16.5	22.4	100.0	0.1
97	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	16.4	14.4	100.0	0.0
98	Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe	16.3	16.3	100.0	0.0
=99	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	16.1	12.9	100.0	4.1
=99	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	16.1	14.1	100.0	0.0
=101	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	16.0	15.0	100.0	0.0
=101	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	16.0	14.2	100.0	0.0
=101	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	16.0	11.7	99.9	0.0
104	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	15.7	16.7	100.0	0.0
105	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	15.5	11.5	100.0	0.0
106	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	15.4	15.9	100.0	0.0
107	Northern CyprusXNCWestern Asia	15.1	14.8	100.0	0.0
108	ArgentinaARGSouth America	15.0	14.1	99.9	0.6
=109	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	14.8	13.5	100.0	0.0
=109	HaitiHTICaribbean	14.8	13.0	100.0	0.0
=109	PolandPOLEastern Europe	14.8	13.1	100.0	0.0
112	SurinameSURSouth America	14.5	14.5	100.0	0.0
113	ItalyITASouthern Europe	14.4	11.4	100.0	0.0
=114	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	14.3	13.8	100.0	0.0
=114	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	14.3	14.2	100.0	0.0
116	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	14.2	14.5	100.0	0.0
117	UkraineUKREastern Europe	14.0	12.9	100.0	0.0
=118	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	13.9	14.6	100.0	0.0
=118	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	13.9	13.4	100.0	0.0
120	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	13.8	12.6	100.0	0.0
121	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	13.6	9.4	100.0	0.0
122	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	13.5	12.8	100.0	0.0
=123	BrazilBRASouth America	13.4	17.4	99.9	0.0
=123	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	13.4	15.5	100.0	0.0
125	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	13.3	11.5	100.0	0.0
=126	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	13.0	12.6	100.0	0.0
=126	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	13.0	9.4	98.5	0.0
=128	GuyanaGUYSouth America	12.9	13.9	100.0	0.0
=128	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	12.9	11.7	99.9	0.0
130	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	12.8	22.1	100.0	0.3
131	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	12.7	12.5	100.0	0.0
=132	JapanJPNEastern Asia	12.6	11.0	100.0	0.0
=132	UruguayURYSouth America	12.6	10.0	100.0	0.0
134	San MarinoSMRSouthern Europe	12.5	12.1	100.0	0.0
=135	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	12.3	11.1	100.0	0.2
=135	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	12.3	10.6	100.0	0.0
137	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	12.2	11.5	100.0	0.0
138	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	12.1	15.1	99.9	0.0
139	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	12.0	12.6	100.0	0.0
=140	BelizeBLZCentral America	11.9	12.3	100.0	0.0
=140	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	11.9	10.8	100.0	0.0
142	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	11.8	11.7	100.0	0.0
143	BelarusBLREastern Europe	11.5	11.0	100.0	0.0
144	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	11.2	10.7	100.0	0.0
145	CuraçaoCUWCaribbean	11.1	9.6	100.0	0.0
146	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	10.6	11.3	100.0	0.0
147	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	10.4	8.9	84.1	1.0
=148	Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean	10.1	10.1	100.0	0.0
=148	CubaCUBCaribbean	10.1	8.3	100.0	0.0
=150	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	10.0	8.5	100.0	0.0
=150	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	10.0	10.0	97.1	0.0
152	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	9.9	9.9	100.0	0.0
=153	ArubaABWCaribbean	9.8	9.8	100.0	0.0
=153	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	9.8	9.7	100.0	0.0
=155	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	9.4	8.1	99.6	0.0
=155	SpainESPSouthern Europe	9.4	7.2	99.4	0.0
157	Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	9.3	8.2	100.0	0.0
158	Sint MaartenSXMCaribbean	9.1	8.7	100.0	0.0
=159	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	9.0	7.9	99.7	0.0
=159	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	9.0	8.5	100.0	0.0
=159	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	9.0	8.6	100.0	0.0
=162	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	8.9	9.0	100.0	0.0
=162	MonacoMCOWestern Europe	8.9	9.0	100.0	0.0
164	GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe	8.8	8.8	100.0	0.0
165	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	8.7	7.2	99.1	0.0
=166	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	8.5	7.1	90.1	0.0
=166	Saint MartinMAFCaribbean	8.5	8.2	100.0	0.0
=168	FranceFRAWestern Europe	8.4	7.0	99.2	0.0
=168	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	8.4	7.7	99.8	0.0
=168	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	8.4	7.6	100.0	0.0
171	Puerto RicoPRICaribbean	8.2	7.9	100.0	0.0
172	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	8.1	7.2	100.0	0.0
=173	Saint Kitts and NevisKNACaribbean	8.0	8.0	100.0	0.0
=173	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	8.0	6.7	99.8	0.0
=175	DominicaDMACaribbean	7.9	7.8	100.0	0.0
=175	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	7.9	6.7	98.6	0.0
=175	United StatesUSANorthern America	7.9	5.6	97.8	0.0
178	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	7.6	6.7	100.0	0.0
179	United States Virgin IslandsVIRCaribbean	7.5	7.3	99.8	0.0
=180	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	7.4	7.1	100.0	0.0
=180	LiechtensteinLIEWestern Europe	7.4	7.2	100.0	0.0
182	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	7.2	6.6	100.0	0.0
183	AnguillaAIACaribbean	7.1	7.1	100.0	0.0
=184	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	7.0	5.6	95.5	0.0
=184	MontserratMSRCaribbean	7.0	7.7	100.0	0.0
186	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	6.9	6.3	99.8	0.0
187	BahamasBHSCaribbean	6.5	6.2	99.6	0.0
188	Turks and Caicos IslandsTCACaribbean	6.3	5.8	95.3	0.0
=189	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	6.2	5.6	95.1	0.0
=189	Isle of ManIMNNorthern Europe	6.2	5.9	99.7	0.0
=191	BermudaBMUNorthern America	6.1	6.1	85.1	0.0
=191	CanadaCANNorthern America	6.1	3.4	83.6	0.0
=191	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	6.1	6.1	100.0	0.0
194	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	6.0	5.8	97.3	0.0
195	British Virgin IslandsVGBCaribbean	5.8	6.2	91.3	0.0
196	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	5.2	3.5	52.5	0.0
197	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	5.0	3.7	33.9	0.0
198	AndorraANDSouthern Europe	4.9	4.4	38.6	0.0
199	PalauPLWMicronesia	4.8	4.9	41.3	0.0
=200	FijiFJIMelanesia	4.7	4.8	15.1	0.3
=200	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	4.7	3.2	42.2	0.0
=200	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	4.7	4.6	12.6	0.0
203	SamoaWSMPolynesia	4.4	4.3	1.2	0.0
204	Faroe IslandsFRONorthern Europe	4.2	4.1	0.0	0.0
=205	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	3.9	3.3	4.7	0.0
=205	TongaTONPolynesia	3.9	3.6	0.6	0.0
=205	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	3.9	4.1	0.7	0.0
208	New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia	3.8	4.0	0.5	0.0
209	GuamGUMMicronesia	3.7	3.7	0.0	0.0
210	KiribatiKIRMicronesia	3.6	2.9	0.3	0.0
=211	NiueNIUPolynesia	3.5	3.5	0.0	0.0
=211	TuvaluTUVPolynesia	3.5	3.5	0.0	0.0
213	American SamoaASMPolynesia	3.4	3.1	0.0	0.0
214	Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia	3.3	3.3	0.0	0.0
215	MicronesiaFSMMicronesia	3.2	3.2	0.0	0.0
=216	Marshall IslandsMHLMicronesia	3.1	1.9	0.0	0.0
=216	NauruNRUMicronesia	3.1	3.1	0.0	0.0
218	Cook IslandsCOKPolynesia	2.8	2.8	0.0	0.0
219	French PolynesiaPYFPolynesia	2.7	-1.5	0.0	0.0
220	GreenlandGRLNorthern America	1.7	1.2	0.0	0.0

02In 2020

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar78.4
2Bangladesh64.1
3Saudi Arabia57.7
4Kuwait55.3
5Niger54.3

Lowest

220Greenland1.7
219French Polynesia2.7
218Cook Islands2.8
216Naurushared3.1
216Marshall Islandsshared3.1

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 14.8. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar77.4
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.5
Middle country: 14.0
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest163 share it
Lowest12 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
HighestKuwait100.0
Lowest139 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032019 → 2020

Since 2019

What changed between 2019 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
215values changed, of 220 in both
102 · 113rose · fell
5unchanged

Rose most

Niger42.7 → 54.3+11.6
Equatorial Guinea16.0 → 22.9+6.9
Sierra Leone18.5 → 25.4+6.9
Qatar72.0 → 78.4+6.4
Nigeria41.2 → 47.6+6.4

Fell most

Bangladesh77.1 → 64.1−13.0
Egypt50.5 → 37.6−12.9
Lesotho59.1 → 47.8−11.3
Singapore23.3 → 14.2−9.1
Brunei15.0 → 9.4−5.6

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

167 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 3 countries share 32.6. 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-2020-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 (2020). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2020 [data set], describing 2020. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2020

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2019
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2021
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