KEY FINDINGS
Begusarai in Bihar has been found to be the most polluted city in the world, according to the World Air Quality Report 2023 released by Switzerlandbased IQAir. Also, India ranks third behind Bangladesh and Pakistan among five most polluted countries in the list of 134 countries.
India was ranked the eighth most polluted country in the 2022 report in a list of 131 countries.
83 FROM INDIA
According to the report, out of 100 top polluted places, 83 are from India. Guwahati is at the second place while Delhi is at the third place and Mullanpur (Punjab) the fourth. Lahore completes the top five list followed by New Delhi. India’s PM2.5 of 54.4 µg/m3 is more than 10 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline, the report pointed out. Further, climate conditions and transboundary haze were major factors in SouthEast Asia, where PM2.5 concentrations rose in nearly every country.
The region of Central & South Asia was home to the top ten most polluted cities in the world, the report said.
According to the firm, the report summarises PM2.5 air quality data from 7,812 cities spanning 134 countries, regions, and territories. The data utilised to create this report was aggregated from more than 30,000 air quality monitoring stations operated by research institutions, governmental bodies, universities and educational facilities, nonprofit organisations,
French Polynesia region has the cleanest air, while Mauritius as a country has the cleanest air
Bangladesh — with a PM2.5 of 79.9 µg/m3 which is 15 times higher than the WHO annual guideline — is the most polluted country
Pakistan comes second with 73.7 µg/m3,, which is 14 times higher than the WHO annual guideline
A total of 124 (92.5%) out of 134 countries and regions exceeded the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline value of 5 µg/m3
Africa remains the most underrepresented continent, with a third of the population still lacking access to air quality data private companies and citizen scientists.
Seven countries met the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline (annual average of 5 µg/m3 or less): Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand. It may be noted PM2.5 data is reported in units of micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) and incorporates the latest World Health Organization (WHO) annual PM2.5 guideline and interim targets for data visualisation and risk communication.
Commenting on the report, Frank Hammes, Global CEO of IQAir, said: “A clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a universal human right. In many parts of