Data for 2021

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2021

Figures for 2021, as Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2021 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 85.8; 2 countries share the lowest reading, 2.4. The middle country reads 14.4. Against 2020, 213 values changed (121 up, 92 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2021

HighestQatar

85.8

Lowest2 countries share it

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
2021the year it describes
158distinct 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, 2021, 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, 2021: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	QatarQATWestern Asia	85.8	95.4	100.0	99.9
2	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	77.6	69.3	100.0	98.9
3	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	68.1	80.0	100.0	87.8
4	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	61.9	67.5	100.0	100.0
5	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	58.9	49.7	100.0	89.8
6	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	54.9	56.7	100.0	98.8
7	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	53.5	34.3	100.0	95.0
8	NigerNERWestern Africa	49.8	47.4	100.0	92.6
9	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	49.7	40.4	100.0	85.3
10	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	49.5	42.6	100.0	78.3
11	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	45.6	47.5	100.0	67.9
12	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	44.6	46.0	100.0	88.2
13	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	44.4	55.7	100.0	86.9
14	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	43.9	35.8	100.0	87.6
15	IraqIRQWestern Asia	42.7	39.4	100.0	65.7
16	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	41.9	46.4	100.0	66.7
17	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	39.5	31.2	100.0	53.8
18	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	38.8	38.0	100.0	75.3
19	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	37.8	36.3	100.0	72.7
20	SenegalSENWestern Africa	37.7	35.9	100.0	55.4
21	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	37.1	34.0	100.0	56.3
22	BeninBENWestern Africa	36.7	38.1	100.0	68.3
23	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	36.1	30.9	100.0	40.1
24	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	35.6	28.6	100.0	31.7
25	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	35.1	32.6	100.0	45.5
26	TogoTGOWestern Africa	34.9	35.3	100.0	55.0
=27	IranIRNSouthern Asia	34.7	34.9	100.0	41.3
=27	OmanOMNWestern Asia	34.7	38.0	100.0	45.5
29	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	34.3	29.9	100.0	42.2
30	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	34.2	32.4	100.0	44.5
=31	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	33.9	34.5	100.0	35.0
=31	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	33.9	34.8	100.0	40.2
33	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	33.6	32.2	100.0	17.8
34	BoliviaBOLSouth America	32.9	24.9	100.0	34.3
=35	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	32.6	29.8	100.0	18.3
=35	MaliMLIWestern Africa	32.6	34.6	100.0	24.9
37	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	32.5	31.3	100.0	26.0
38	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	31.6	22.8	100.0	36.2
39	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	31.4	26.4	100.0	31.0
40	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	31.1	29.5	100.0	13.7
41	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	29.9	22.3	100.0	38.6
42	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	29.6	16.3	100.0	31.2
43	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	29.3	24.8	100.0	22.0
44	YemenYEMWestern Asia	28.8	31.8	100.0	9.1
45	JordanJORWestern Asia	28.4	28.8	100.0	15.2
46	GuineaGINWestern Africa	27.9	26.0	100.0	13.7
47	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	27.4	27.5	100.0	6.1
48	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	27.3	22.7	100.0	18.2
=49	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	27.2	14.0	100.0	15.9
=49	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	27.2	27.6	100.0	1.7
51	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	26.9	27.8	100.0	0.7
52	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	26.8	19.4	99.9	27.7
53	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	26.7	22.6	100.0	15.1
54	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	26.6	25.3	100.0	11.9
=55	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	25.6	23.7	100.0	1.5
=55	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	25.6	25.4	100.0	3.8
57	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	25.1	21.5	100.0	14.7
58	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	24.8	22.0	100.0	11.5
59	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	24.2	18.9	100.0	7.5
60	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	24.1	22.8	100.0	0.1
61	GabonGABMiddle Africa	24.0	22.9	100.0	0.5
62	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	23.6	14.7	100.0	24.2
=63	EritreaERIEastern Africa	23.1	23.7	100.0	0.9
=63	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	23.1	20.0	100.0	0.0
65	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	22.6	20.6	100.0	2.4
=66	PalestinePSEWestern Asia	22.4	21.6	100.0	1.7
=66	PeruPERSouth America	22.4	21.5	100.0	8.3
=68	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	22.2	19.7	100.0	0.0
=68	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	22.2	22.7	100.0	1.5
70	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	21.9	20.8	100.0	0.0
71	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	21.7	20.1	100.0	0.2
=72	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	21.3	21.7	100.0	1.2
=72	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	21.3	25.7	100.0	0.5
74	ChileCHLSouth America	21.1	19.7	100.0	1.1
75	KenyaKENEastern Africa	21.0	16.8	100.0	0.8
76	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	20.8	19.7	100.0	1.3
77	IsraelISRWestern Asia	20.5	23.5	100.0	0.3
78	EcuadorECUSouth America	20.0	19.4	99.8	0.3
79	HondurasHNDCentral America	19.6	15.4	100.0	0.6
80	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	19.1	16.4	100.0	1.0
81	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	18.9	17.9	100.0	0.0
82	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	18.7	17.2	100.0	1.2
83	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	18.4	18.4	100.0	0.0
84	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	18.0	14.2	99.7	5.5
85	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	17.9	13.1	100.0	4.2
86	Costa RicaCRICentral America	17.6	15.6	100.0	0.0
87	PolandPOLEastern Europe	17.4	15.6	100.0	0.0
=88	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	17.3	12.4	100.0	4.9
=88	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	17.3	16.1	100.0	0.0
=88	VenezuelaVENSouth America	17.3	15.0	100.0	0.3
91	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	17.1	16.3	100.0	0.0
92	MexicoMEXCentral America	16.9	9.9	99.9	0.1
=93	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	16.6	17.3	100.0	0.0
=93	ParaguayPRYSouth America	16.6	16.1	100.0	0.0
=95	ColombiaCOLSouth America	16.3	15.7	100.0	0.0
=95	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	16.3	14.6	100.0	0.7
97	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	16.2	14.1	100.0	0.1
98	Northern CyprusXNCWestern Asia	16.1	15.9	100.0	0.0
99	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	16.0	13.0	99.7	0.0
=100	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	15.6	14.1	100.0	1.1
=100	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	15.6	15.1	100.0	0.0
102	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	15.4	16.1	100.0	0.0
=103	NicaraguaNICCentral America	15.2	12.5	100.0	0.0
=103	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	15.2	13.6	100.0	0.0
=105	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	14.9	10.9	99.8	0.0
=105	PanamaPANCentral America	14.9	14.4	100.0	0.0
107	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	14.7	17.6	100.0	0.1
108	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	14.6	13.3	100.0	0.0
109	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	14.5	13.7	100.0	0.0
110	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	14.4	25.6	100.0	0.7
=111	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	14.3	12.4	100.0	0.0
=111	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	14.3	12.9	99.6	0.0
=113	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	14.2	15.5	100.0	0.0
=113	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	14.2	11.0	100.0	0.0
=113	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	14.2	15.0	100.0	0.0
=113	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	14.2	10.6	100.0	0.0
117	Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe	14.1	14.1	100.0	0.0
118	ArgentinaARGSouth America	13.9	14.5	99.9	0.7
119	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	13.7	13.6	100.0	0.0
=120	ItalyITASouthern Europe	13.6	10.8	100.0	0.0
=120	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	13.6	12.8	99.8	0.0
=122	GuyanaGUYSouth America	13.5	13.6	100.0	0.0
=122	HaitiHTICaribbean	13.5	11.9	100.0	0.0
=122	JapanJPNEastern Asia	13.5	13.3	100.0	0.0
=125	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	13.4	12.9	100.0	0.0
=125	SurinameSURSouth America	13.4	12.5	100.0	0.0
=127	BrazilBRASouth America	13.2	15.9	99.9	0.3
=127	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	13.2	12.8	100.0	0.0
=127	UkraineUKREastern Europe	13.2	12.2	100.0	0.0
130	UruguayURYSouth America	13.1	10.7	100.0	0.0
131	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	12.9	12.8	100.0	0.0
=132	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	12.8	12.0	100.0	0.0
=132	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	12.8	10.9	99.9	0.0
=132	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	12.8	11.9	100.0	0.0
135	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	12.5	13.5	100.0	0.0
=136	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	12.2	12.1	100.0	0.0
=136	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	12.2	11.0	98.6	0.2
=138	BelarusBLREastern Europe	12.0	11.0	100.0	0.0
=138	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	12.0	11.3	100.0	0.0
=140	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	11.9	11.8	100.0	0.0
=140	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	11.9	9.6	95.9	6.9
=140	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	11.9	10.0	99.9	0.0
143	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	11.8	11.6	100.0	0.0
=144	ArubaABWCaribbean	11.0	10.9	100.0	0.0
=144	CuraçaoCUWCaribbean	11.0	10.4	100.0	0.0
=146	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	10.9	10.7	100.0	0.0
=146	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	10.9	10.6	97.6	0.0
=146	San MarinoSMRSouthern Europe	10.9	10.6	100.0	0.0
149	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	10.7	12.4	100.0	0.0
150	CubaCUBCaribbean	10.2	8.7	100.0	0.0
151	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	10.1	9.5	100.0	0.0
152	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	10.0	9.3	100.0	0.0
=153	Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	9.8	8.6	99.7	0.0
=153	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	9.8	8.2	99.6	0.0
=153	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	9.8	8.6	100.0	0.0
=156	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	9.7	8.2	99.2	0.0
=156	Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean	9.7	9.2	100.0	0.0
=156	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	9.7	9.3	100.0	0.0
159	BelizeBLZCentral America	9.6	9.9	100.0	0.0
160	SpainESPSouthern Europe	9.5	7.6	99.8	0.0
161	FranceFRAWestern Europe	9.2	7.5	99.2	0.0
=162	LiechtensteinLIEWestern Europe	8.8	8.6	100.0	0.0
=162	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	8.8	7.1	98.8	0.0
=164	DominicaDMACaribbean	8.7	8.5	99.9	0.0
=164	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	8.7	7.9	99.4	0.0
=166	Puerto RicoPRICaribbean	8.6	8.2	100.0	0.0
=166	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	8.6	7.1	99.7	0.0
168	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	8.5	7.4	98.0	0.0
169	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	8.4	8.3	100.0	0.0
=170	GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe	8.3	8.9	100.0	0.0
=170	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	8.3	7.0	100.0	0.0
=170	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	8.3	7.3	100.0	0.0
=170	MonacoMCOWestern Europe	8.3	8.3	100.0	0.0
=174	Saint Kitts and NevisKNACaribbean	8.1	8.2	99.8	0.0
=174	United StatesUSANorthern America	8.1	5.9	97.8	0.0
176	Saint MartinMAFCaribbean	7.9	7.7	100.0	0.0
177	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	7.7	7.3	99.7	0.0
=178	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	7.6	7.2	97.5	0.0
=178	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	7.6	7.3	99.9	0.0
=178	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	7.6	6.3	76.1	0.0
=178	Sint MaartenSXMCaribbean	7.6	7.1	100.0	0.0
182	BahamasBHSCaribbean	7.3	6.9	99.3	0.0
=183	CanadaCANNorthern America	7.2	4.9	89.1	0.0
=183	MontserratMSRCaribbean	7.2	7.3	100.0	0.0
185	United States Virgin IslandsVIRCaribbean	6.9	6.8	99.7	0.0
186	Turks and Caicos IslandsTCACaribbean	6.7	6.2	97.1	0.0
187	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	6.5	5.4	98.0	0.0
=188	AnguillaAIACaribbean	6.2	6.3	87.8	0.0
=188	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	6.2	5.6	97.3	0.0
=188	Isle of ManIMNNorthern Europe	6.2	6.0	99.6	0.0
191	British Virgin IslandsVGBCaribbean	5.9	6.0	89.5	0.0
=192	AndorraANDSouthern Europe	5.7	5.1	62.7	0.0
=192	BermudaBMUNorthern America	5.7	5.7	83.9	0.0
=192	FijiFJIMelanesia	5.7	5.3	87.0	0.0
195	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	5.6	5.4	89.3	0.0
=196	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	5.5	5.5	73.6	0.0
=196	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	5.5	5.7	76.9	0.0
=196	TongaTONPolynesia	5.5	4.9	67.4	0.0
=199	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	5.4	3.8	67.0	0.0
=199	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	5.4	3.6	67.8	0.0
201	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	4.9	4.4	56.1	0.0
202	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	4.8	3.6	31.5	0.0
=203	PalauPLWMicronesia	4.3	4.4	0.6	0.0
=203	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	4.3	4.5	2.7	0.0
205	New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia	4.2	4.4	4.9	0.0
206	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	4.1	4.2	1.2	0.0
207	Faroe IslandsFRONorthern Europe	4.0	3.9	0.0	0.0
208	TuvaluTUVPolynesia	3.9	4.0	0.0	0.0
209	SamoaWSMPolynesia	3.8	3.5	7.8	0.0
210	NiueNIUPolynesia	3.6	3.5	0.0	0.0
=211	American SamoaASMPolynesia	3.3	3.4	2.9	0.0
=211	GuamGUMMicronesia	3.3	3.2	0.0	0.0
213	Marshall IslandsMHLMicronesia	3.1	1.9	0.0	0.0
=214	MicronesiaFSMMicronesia	2.9	3.1	0.0	0.0
=214	NauruNRUMicronesia	2.9	2.9	0.0	0.0
=216	KiribatiKIRMicronesia	2.8	2.7	0.3	0.0
=216	Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia	2.8	2.9	0.0	0.0
218	Cook IslandsCOKPolynesia	2.5	2.4	0.0	0.0
=219	French PolynesiaPYFPolynesia	2.4	-1.7	0.0	0.0
=219	GreenlandGRLNorthern America	2.4	2.0	0.0	0.0

02In 2021

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar85.8
2Bangladesh77.6
3Lesotho68.1
4Kuwait61.9
5Saudi Arabia58.9

Lowest

219French Polynesiashared2.4
219Greenlandshared2.4
218Cook Islands2.5
216Northern Mariana Islandsshared2.8
216Kiribatishared2.8

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 14.4. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

PM2.5, geographic mean (µg/m³)
HighestQatar95.4
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.7
Middle country: 13.6
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest151 share it
Lowest11 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
HighestKuwait100.0
Lowest128 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
213values changed, of 220 in both
121 · 92rose · fell
7unchanged

Rose most

Lesotho47.8 → 68.1+20.3
Egypt37.6 → 53.5+15.9
Bangladesh64.1 → 77.6+13.5
Burundi29.5 → 37.8+8.3
Qatar78.4 → 85.8+7.4

Fell most

Niger54.3 → 49.8−4.5
Bosnia and Herzegovina21.9 → 19.1−2.8
Djibouti26.9 → 24.1−2.8
Paraguay19.4 → 16.6−2.8
United Arab Emirates47.1 → 44.4−2.7

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

158 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 14.2. 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-2021-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 (2021). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2021

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2020
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2022
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