Context:
Recently, IQAir announced its 7th annual World Air Quality Report, highlighting alarming trends in the world’s most polluted countries, territories, and regions in 2024.
- This year, IQAir’s air quality scientists analyzed data from over 40,000 monitoring stations across 8,954 locations in 138 countries and regions.
Key findings from the 2024 World Air Quality Report:
- Only 17% of global cities met WHO air pollution guidelines. 91.3% of countries exceeded the WHO’s annual PM2.5 guideline of 5 μg/m³.
- Seven countries met the WHO annual average PM2.5 guideline of 5 µg/m3: Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Estonia, Grenada, Iceland, and New Zealand.
- The five most polluted countries in 2024 were Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and India all have PM2.5 levels significantly higher than the WHO annual guideline.
- Byrnihat, India, was the most polluted city in 2024 with a PM2.5 concentration of 128.2 μg/m³. Central and South Asia had the top seven most polluted cities.
- Mayaguez, Puerto Rico was the cleanest metropolitan area of 2024, with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 1.1 µg/m3.
- Oceania is the world’s cleanest region, with 57% of regional cities meeting the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline value of 5 µg/m3.
Condition of India
- Delhi is the world’s most polluted capital, with a PM2.5 concentration of 91.8 µg/m³. India has 13 of the 20 most polluted cities, including Byrnihat, Faridabad, and Delhi.
- India is the fifth most polluted country, with an AQI of 50.6 µg/m³, 10 times higher than the WHO guideline.
- India saw a 7% decrease in PM2.5 levels in 2024, averaging 50.6 µg/m³, down from 54.4 µg/m³ in 2023.
- Six of the world’s ten most polluted cities are in India, with New Delhi’s pollution remaining nearly unchanged at 91.6 µg/m³.
