Data for 2022

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2022

Figures for 2022, as Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2022 covers 220 countries on 4 measures. Qatar is highest, at 87.9; Greenland is lowest, at 1.8. The middle country reads 14.8. Against 2021, 215 values changed (114 up, 101 down), the same countries are covered.

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PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure · Data for 2022

HighestQatar

87.9

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
2022the year it describes
165distinct 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, 2022, 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, 2022: every country, as published by Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis.
derived
1	QatarQATWestern Asia	87.9	88.5	100.0	100.0
2	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	67.4	60.6	100.0	95.6
3	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	66.2	65.3	100.0	100.0
4	NigerNERWestern Africa	64.6	55.0	100.0	99.4
5	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	63.2	67.9	100.0	89.0
6	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	57.4	58.8	100.0	99.4
7	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	57.2	46.0	100.0	83.6
8	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	54.3	59.1	100.0	99.6
9	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	53.2	55.9	100.0	82.5
10	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	50.3	41.3	100.0	84.4
11	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	50.0	32.3	100.0	93.6
12	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	48.8	40.5	100.0	72.9
13	IraqIRQWestern Asia	46.2	43.2	100.0	80.3
14	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	43.2	34.1	100.0	59.1
15	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	41.6	44.1	100.0	85.3
=16	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	41.4	46.9	100.0	53.2
=16	OmanOMNWestern Asia	41.4	48.0	100.0	88.2
18	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	40.3	31.6	100.0	70.6
19	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	39.9	38.6	100.0	75.8
20	SenegalSENWestern Africa	38.6	36.6	100.0	76.1
21	BeninBENWestern Africa	38.4	40.3	100.0	84.2
22	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	37.0	34.2	100.0	55.0
23	MaliMLIWestern Africa	36.9	37.5	100.0	59.1
24	TogoTGOWestern Africa	36.5	35.9	100.0	69.0
25	IranIRNSouthern Asia	35.4	36.2	100.0	47.2
26	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	34.9	29.1	100.0	45.9
27	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	34.3	34.9	100.0	40.2
28	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	34.0	33.2	100.0	49.2
29	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	33.9	33.5	100.0	32.8
=30	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	33.6	32.7	100.0	38.8
=30	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	33.6	32.9	100.0	36.5
=32	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	33.4	35.0	100.0	36.0
=32	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	33.4	32.0	100.0	24.4
34	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	32.2	32.9	100.0	30.5
=35	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	31.8	23.1	100.0	35.6
=35	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	31.8	25.0	100.0	33.4
37	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	31.6	29.1	100.0	16.3
38	YemenYEMWestern Asia	31.0	34.1	100.0	16.4
39	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	30.9	23.0	100.0	11.2
=40	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	30.0	24.1	100.0	19.0
=40	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	30.0	27.1	100.0	14.4
=42	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	29.7	28.8	100.0	0.5
=42	JordanJORWestern Asia	29.7	29.3	100.0	17.7
44	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	29.6	25.2	100.0	23.8
45	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	29.4	30.2	100.0	2.8
46	GuineaGINWestern Africa	28.6	27.6	100.0	9.7
47	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	28.5	29.1	100.0	14.2
48	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	28.0	22.8	100.0	28.3
49	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	27.1	16.3	100.0	26.1
50	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	27.0	25.4	100.0	8.7
51	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	26.7	28.8	100.0	1.6
52	GabonGABMiddle Africa	26.6	26.7	100.0	0.0
53	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	26.5	26.2	100.0	8.5
54	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	25.9	25.2	100.0	1.1
55	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	25.5	22.9	100.0	4.3
56	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	25.2	23.1	100.0	0.1
57	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	24.9	17.6	100.0	15.4
58	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	24.7	13.1	100.0	15.4
59	EritreaERIEastern Africa	24.6	27.5	100.0	7.9
60	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	24.2	20.6	100.0	0.0
61	PalestinePSEWestern Asia	23.7	24.4	99.9	1.4
=62	ChileCHLSouth America	23.4	17.6	99.9	1.5
=62	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	23.4	26.0	100.0	4.3
64	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	23.2	25.0	100.0	0.0
65	BoliviaBOLSouth America	23.1	21.9	100.0	1.7
=66	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	22.5	19.5	100.0	2.8
=66	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	22.5	17.7	100.0	8.4
68	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	22.4	17.8	100.0	2.0
69	IsraelISRWestern Asia	22.2	25.1	100.0	0.3
70	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	22.0	21.2	100.0	0.0
71	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	21.6	21.4	100.0	1.8
72	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	21.5	18.2	100.0	0.1
=73	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	21.1	20.7	100.0	0.6
=73	KenyaKENEastern Africa	21.1	15.9	100.0	7.2
75	PeruPERSouth America	21.0	20.4	100.0	8.3
76	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	20.8	20.8	100.0	0.1
77	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	20.7	18.1	100.0	0.0
78	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	19.8	19.4	100.0	0.0
79	HondurasHNDCentral America	19.4	15.8	100.0	0.0
80	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	19.1	17.3	100.0	0.0
81	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	19.0	15.1	100.0	4.7
=82	EcuadorECUSouth America	18.7	19.1	99.8	0.0
=82	VenezuelaVENSouth America	18.7	17.1	100.0	0.0
84	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	18.2	15.9	100.0	1.0
85	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	18.0	26.8	100.0	3.5
86	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	17.9	19.7	100.0	0.0
=87	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	17.8	12.7	100.0	2.3
=87	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	17.8	17.1	100.0	0.3
89	ColombiaCOLSouth America	17.4	19.6	100.0	0.1
=90	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	17.1	15.9	100.0	0.0
=90	Costa RicaCRICentral America	17.1	15.5	100.0	0.0
=92	MexicoMEXCentral America	16.4	9.4	99.6	0.0
=92	ParaguayPRYSouth America	16.4	16.1	100.0	0.0
=94	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	16.3	26.5	100.0	2.2
=94	Northern CyprusXNCWestern Asia	16.3	16.0	100.0	0.0
96	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	16.2	17.1	100.0	0.0
=97	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	16.0	14.7	100.0	0.5
=97	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	16.0	14.1	100.0	0.0
99	Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe	15.9	15.9	100.0	0.0
=100	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	15.7	13.1	100.0	0.0
=100	NicaraguaNICCentral America	15.7	13.1	100.0	0.0
=102	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	15.5	15.1	100.0	0.0
=102	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	15.5	18.3	100.0	1.3
104	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	15.4	11.9	99.8	1.5
=105	ArgentinaARGSouth America	15.2	15.4	100.0	0.9
=105	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	15.2	13.7	99.8	0.0
107	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	15.1	15.8	100.0	0.0
108	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	14.9	12.9	100.0	0.0
=109	PolandPOLEastern Europe	14.8	13.1	100.0	0.0
=109	SurinameSURSouth America	14.8	16.2	100.0	0.0
=111	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	14.7	14.2	100.0	0.0
=111	PanamaPANCentral America	14.7	14.4	100.0	0.0
=111	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	14.7	12.9	100.0	0.0
=111	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	14.7	14.1	100.0	0.0
=115	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	14.6	13.5	100.0	0.0
=115	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	14.6	13.6	100.0	0.0
117	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	14.5	10.8	99.9	0.0
118	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	14.4	10.8	100.0	0.0
119	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	14.3	15.7	100.0	0.0
120	ItalyITASouthern Europe	14.2	11.4	100.0	0.0
=121	GuyanaGUYSouth America	14.1	16.0	100.0	0.0
=121	UruguayURYSouth America	14.1	11.4	100.0	0.0
123	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	14.0	11.6	100.0	0.0
124	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	13.9	12.3	100.0	0.0
=125	BrazilBRASouth America	13.7	18.6	99.9	0.4
=125	JapanJPNEastern Asia	13.7	12.1	100.0	0.0
=125	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	13.7	12.4	100.0	0.0
128	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	12.9	12.2	100.0	0.0
=129	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	12.8	11.8	100.0	0.0
=129	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	12.8	11.0	100.0	0.0
131	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	12.7	11.8	100.0	0.0
=132	HaitiHTICaribbean	12.6	11.3	100.0	0.0
=132	San MarinoSMRSouthern Europe	12.6	12.3	100.0	0.0
134	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	12.4	10.8	100.0	0.0
135	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	12.3	11.3	100.0	0.0
136	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	12.2	11.9	100.0	0.0
=137	CuraçaoCUWCaribbean	12.0	10.5	100.0	0.0
=137	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	12.0	12.0	100.0	0.0
139	UkraineUKREastern Europe	11.9	10.8	100.0	0.0
140	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	11.7	11.6	100.0	0.0
141	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	11.6	11.9	99.3	0.0
142	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	11.5	9.5	96.5	5.7
=143	ArubaABWCaribbean	11.4	11.8	100.0	0.0
=143	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	11.4	11.5	99.0	0.0
=145	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	11.2	6.5	98.2	0.0
=145	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	11.2	10.6	99.9	0.0
147	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	11.0	10.4	100.0	0.0
148	Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean	10.9	9.2	100.0	0.0
=149	BelizeBLZCentral America	10.6	11.0	100.0	0.0
=149	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	10.6	9.0	100.0	0.0
=149	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	10.6	12.3	100.0	0.0
=152	BelarusBLREastern Europe	10.4	9.6	100.0	0.0
=152	GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe	10.4	10.6	100.0	0.0
=152	SpainESPSouthern Europe	10.4	8.4	100.0	0.0
=155	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	10.1	8.6	100.0	0.0
=155	CubaCUBCaribbean	10.1	8.2	99.9	0.0
157	MonacoMCOWestern Europe	9.8	9.7	100.0	0.0
=158	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	9.6	8.6	99.8	0.0
=158	FranceFRAWestern Europe	9.6	8.1	99.9	0.0
160	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	9.5	9.0	97.7	0.0
161	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	9.3	9.1	100.0	0.0
=162	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	9.2	8.0	89.7	0.0
=162	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	9.2	7.7	98.5	0.0
164	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	9.1	8.6	100.0	0.0
165	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	9.0	8.5	100.0	0.0
166	LiechtensteinLIEWestern Europe	8.9	8.7	100.0	0.0
167	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	8.8	8.1	99.9	0.0
168	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	8.4	6.8	99.8	0.0
169	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	8.3	7.4	100.0	0.0
170	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	8.1	7.8	99.2	0.0
171	DominicaDMACaribbean	8.0	7.7	98.9	0.0
=172	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	7.8	7.4	100.0	0.0
=172	Sint MaartenSXMCaribbean	7.8	7.2	96.5	0.0
=174	AndorraANDSouthern Europe	7.7	7.1	99.9	0.0
=174	Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	7.7	7.0	92.4	0.0
176	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	7.6	7.0	99.8	0.0
=177	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	7.4	6.9	99.5	0.0
=177	Puerto RicoPRICaribbean	7.4	7.3	99.5	0.0
=177	United StatesUSANorthern America	7.4	5.5	96.4	0.0
180	Saint MartinMAFCaribbean	7.1	6.6	89.0	0.0
181	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	6.9	7.0	100.0	0.0
182	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	6.8	6.2	99.4	0.0
=183	AnguillaAIACaribbean	6.6	6.5	97.0	0.0
=183	BahamasBHSCaribbean	6.6	5.9	89.1	0.0
=185	CanadaCANNorthern America	6.5	4.2	88.9	0.0
=185	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	6.5	6.5	99.9	0.0
=185	United States Virgin IslandsVIRCaribbean	6.5	6.1	95.9	0.0
188	Isle of ManIMNNorthern Europe	6.4	5.8	94.8	0.0
189	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	6.3	6.0	98.5	0.0
190	MontserratMSRCaribbean	5.9	6.2	78.0	0.0
=191	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	5.8	5.6	93.0	0.0
=191	Turks and Caicos IslandsTCACaribbean	5.8	4.9	76.0	0.0
193	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	5.7	3.7	76.1	0.0
=194	FijiFJIMelanesia	5.5	5.3	76.5	0.1
=194	Saint Kitts and NevisKNACaribbean	5.5	5.3	55.5	0.0
196	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	5.4	5.4	58.5	0.0
197	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	5.3	5.2	86.8	0.0
198	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	5.2	3.7	59.3	0.0
=199	British Virgin IslandsVGBCaribbean	5.1	5.4	57.7	0.0
=199	New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia	5.1	5.4	57.7	0.0
201	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	4.9	3.8	34.9	0.0
=202	BermudaBMUNorthern America	4.8	4.8	48.9	0.0
=202	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	4.8	4.8	30.5	0.0
204	TongaTONPolynesia	4.4	4.4	7.1	0.0
=205	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	4.3	3.8	12.8	0.0
=205	TuvaluTUVPolynesia	4.3	4.2	7.8	0.0
207	PalauPLWMicronesia	4.1	4.4	0.4	0.0
208	Faroe IslandsFRONorthern Europe	4.0	3.9	0.2	0.0
=209	GuamGUMMicronesia	3.5	3.4	0.0	0.0
=209	Marshall IslandsMHLMicronesia	3.5	2.3	0.1	0.0
=209	SamoaWSMPolynesia	3.5	3.5	0.0	0.0
212	American SamoaASMPolynesia	3.3	3.1	0.0	0.0
=213	MicronesiaFSMMicronesia	3.1	3.3	0.0	0.0
=213	NiueNIUPolynesia	3.1	3.1	0.0	0.0
=215	KiribatiKIRMicronesia	2.9	2.7	0.3	0.0
=215	NauruNRUMicronesia	2.9	2.8	0.0	0.0
=215	Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia	2.9	3.0	0.0	0.0
218	Cook IslandsCOKPolynesia	2.7	2.8	0.0	0.0
219	French PolynesiaPYFPolynesia	2.6	-1.4	0.0	0.0
220	GreenlandGRLNorthern America	1.8	1.2	0.0	0.0

02In 2022

At either end

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

Highest

1Qatar87.9
2Bangladesh67.4
3Kuwait66.2
4Niger64.6
5Lesotho63.2

Lowest

220Greenland1.8
219French Polynesia2.6
218Cook Islands2.7
215Naurushared2.9
215Northern Mariana Islandsshared2.9

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)
HighestQatar88.5
LowestFrench Polynesia-1.4
Middle country: 13.3
People at or above 5 µg/m³, the WHO guideline (%)
Highest150 share it
Lowest10 share it
Middle country: 100.0
People at or above 35 µg/m³, the WHO's first interim target (%)
Highest2 share it
Lowest134 share it
Middle country: 0.0

032021 → 2022

Since 2021

What changed between 2021 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
215values changed, of 220 in both
114 · 101rose · fell
5unchanged

Rose most

Niger49.8 → 64.6+14.8
United Arab Emirates44.4 → 54.3+9.9
Nigeria45.6 → 53.2+7.6
Oman34.7 → 41.4+6.7
Burkina Faso33.6 → 39.9+6.3

Fell most

Bangladesh77.6 → 67.4−10.2
Bolivia32.9 → 23.1−9.8
Ethiopia29.3 → 22.5−6.8
El Salvador26.7 → 20.7−6.0
Kyrgyzstan23.6 → 17.8−5.8

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

165 distinct values among 220
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 14.7. 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-2022-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 (2022). PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2022 [data set], describing 2022. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/pm25-exposure/2022

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2021
220 countries
The year after ›
PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposure, 2023
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