List of most-polluted cities by particulate matter concentration

This list contains the most-polluted cities by PM2.5 annual mean concentration measurement as documented by the World Health Organization (WHO) covering the period from 2019 to 2022. The January 2024 version of the WHO database contains results of ambient (outdoor) air pollution monitoring from almost 5,390 towns and cities in 63 countries. Air quality in the database is represented by the annual mean concentration of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5, i.e., particles smaller than 10 or 2.5 micrometers, respectively).

Please note that constraints exist in this list as the WHO says these data are not comparable between countries. Data in this list are self-measured and self-reported so some places in Africa and South America which lack air pollution reporting tools are not properly reflected in this list. On the other hand, countries featured in this list with many cities may only mean that they have large and wide air pollution monitoring networks, rather than an indicator of heavy pollution. City or region Country Year PM2.5 Temporal coverage PM10 Temporal coverage Hapur 2020 137 NA 227 NA Lahore 2019 123.9 57 NA NA Kabul 2019 119.8 18 NA NA Delhi 2020 114.5 NA 194.3 NA Hotan 2019 112.3 92 NA NA Noida 2020 112 NA 207 NA Agra 2020 111.8 NA 174 NA Ghaziabad 2020 102.8 NA 203 NA Kashgar 2019 90.2 96 NA NA Zhanhe 2019 89.6 58 NA NA Shunhe 2019 88.3 43 NA NA Dhaka 2019 86.5 94 NA NA Dehradun 2020 81.5 NA 138 NA Chuzhou 2019 80.8 16 NA NA Peshawar 2019 79.5 52 NA NA Suiyang 2019 79.2 55 NA NA Yindu 2019 76.4 98 NA NA Jahra Governorate 2021 76 NA 184 NA Midong 2019 72.8 94 NA NA Longnan 2019 72.2 97 NA NA Dushanbe 2019 71.5 19 NA NA Imphal 2020 69 NA 137 NA Muzaffarnagar 2020 68.5 NA 145 NA Hanshan 2019 68.2 98 NA NA Dongchangfu 2019 68.0 73 NA NA Wenfeng 2019 67.8 97 NA NA Xinshi 2019 67.7 97 NA NA Qiaoxi 2019 66.3 97 NA NA Puerto Plata 2021 66 NA 94.3 NA Pernik 2022 66 0 53.2 36 Qindu 2019 65.7 96 NA NA Howrah 2020 65.5 NA 124.8 NA Asansol 2020 65 NA 114 NA Anyang 2020 62 NA NA NA Bhopal 2020 61 NA 157.5 NA Kampala 2019 60.2 90 NA NA Chandigarh 2020 60 NA 92.4 NA Ulaanbaatar 2019 60 NA 124 NA Puyang 2020 58 NA NA NA Shijiazhuang 2020 58 NA NA NA Mangaung 2021 57.3 1 120.1 1 Santiago de los Caballeros 2020 57.2 NA 81.7 NA Handan 2020 57 NA NA NA Hebi 2020 57 NA NA NA Yuncheng 2020 57 NA NA NA Durgapur 2020 57 NA 107 NA San Cristóbal 2021 56.7 NA 81 NA Singrauli 2020 56.7 NA 143.3 NA Iğdır 2020 56.6 46 90.2 94 Distrito Nacional 2021 56 NA 79.1 NA Jiaozuo 2020 56 NA NA NA Agartala 2020 55.5 NA 95.5 NA Kaifeng 2020 55 NA NA NA Luohe 2020 55 NA NA NA Tshwane 2020 54.6 1 32.6 1 Taiyuan 2020 54 NA NA NA Xianyang 2020 54 NA NA NA Zaozhuang 2020 54 NA NA NA Erzurum 2019 53.8 97 76.4 89 Heze 2020 53 NA NA NA Liaocheng 2020 53 NA NA NA Weinan 2020 53 NA NA NA Xingtai 2020 53 NA NA NA Xuchang 2020 53 NA NA NA Guwahati 2020 53 NA 86 NA Gwalior 2020 53 NA 139 NA Kolkata 2020 52.2 NA 100.1 NA Hanoi 2019 52.1 59 NA NA Hengshui 2020 52 NA NA NA Linfen 2020 52 NA NA NA Shangqiu 2020 52 NA NA NA Xiangyang 2020 52 NA NA NA Zibo 2020 52 NA NA NA Jining 2020 51 NA NA NA Luoyang 2020 51 NA NA NA Nanyang 2020 51 NA NA NA Pingdingshan 2020 51 NA NA NA Xi An 2020 51 NA NA NA Xinxiang 2020 51 NA NA NA Zhengzhou 2020 51 NA NA NA Baoding 2020 50 NA NA NA Fuyang 2020 50 NA NA NA Xuzhou 2020 50 NA NA NA Zhoukou 2020 50 NA NA NA Linyi 2020 49 NA NA NA Binzhou 2020 49 NA NA NA Dezhou 2020 49 NA NA NA Tangshan 2020 49 NA NA NA Barrackpore 2020 49 NA 78.7 NA Manama 2019 48.7 88 128.1 83 Baghdad 2021 48.5 NA NA NA Hawalli Governorate 2019 48.3 50 127.7 88 Eastern Region 2022 48.2 NA 192.2 NA Huaibei 2020 48 NA NA NA Sanmenxia 2020 48 NA NA NA Tianjin 2020 48 NA NA NA Kuwait City 2019 47.3 95 NA NA Zhlobin 2020 47 NA NA NA Baoji 2020 47 NA NA NA Bozhou 2020 47 NA NA NA Cangzhou 2020 47 NA NA NA Harbin 2020 47 NA NA NA Jinan 2020 47 NA NA NA Jinzhou 2020 47 NA NA NA Ürümqi 2020 47 NA NA NA Weifang 2020 47 NA NA NA Jincheng 2020 46 NA NA NA Suzhou, Anhui 2020 46 NA NA NA Tai'an 2020 46 NA NA NA Yangquan 2020 46 NA NA NA Dubai 2021 45.8 97 118.5 97 Makkah Region 2021 45.6 NA 134.8 NA Düzce 2020 45.4 53 53.4 89 Ahmadi Governorate 2021 45.3 NA 156 NA Babylon Governorate 2019 45 NA NA NA Dongying 2020 45 NA NA NA Huai'an 2020 45 NA NA NA Jingmen 2020 45 NA NA NA Suqian 2020 45 NA NA NA Zhumadian 2020 45 NA NA NA Sitra 2019 44.7 84 100.3 84 Medina Province 2022 44.5 NA 113.7 NA Dubai 2019 44.4 89 108.5 NA Karachi 2019 44.3 56 NA NA Anshan 2020 44 NA NA NA Baotou 2020 44 NA NA NA Changzhi 2020 44 NA NA NA Xinzhou 2020 44 NA NA NA Haldia 2020 44 NA 86.5 NA Siliguri 2020 44 NA 94 NA Mumbai 2019 43.4 90 89 63 Dr Kenneth Kaunda 2019 43.4 1 48.8 1 Bengbu 2020 43 NA NA NA Fushun 2020 43 NA NA NA Huludao 2020 43 NA NA NA Tongchuan 2020 43 NA NA NA Yiyang 2020 43 NA NA NA Zigong 2020 43 NA NA NA South Sumatra 2019 42.7 99 45.9 99 Tuzla 2021 42.6 95 NA NA Živinice 2021 42.2 84 NA NA Hyderabad 2019 42.1 87 NA NA Changchun 2020 42 NA NA NA Changsha 2020 42 NA NA NA Jinzhong 2020 42 NA NA NA Langfang 2020 42 NA NA NA Shenyang 2020 42 NA NA NA Kharagpur 2020 42 NA 117 NA Sambalpur 2020 42 NA 67 NA Tashkent 2019 42 81 NA NA Riyadh Province 2022 41.6 NA 303.9 NA Cuttack 2020 41.5 NA 92 NA Mamak 2020 41.1 91 65.5 93 Johannesburg 2020 41.1 1 50.4 1 Changde 2020 41 NA NA NA Chengdu 2020 41 NA NA NA Jilin 2020 41 NA NA NA Liaoyang 2020 41 NA NA NA Suihua 2020 41 NA NA NA Yichang 2020 41 NA NA NA Yingkou 2020 41 NA NA NA Doha 2019 41 1 208 1 Lukavac 2021 40.3 75 NA NA Balasore 2020 40.3 NA 78.3 NA Changzhou 2020 40 NA NA NA Hanzhong 2020 40 NA NA NA Hohhot 2020 40 NA NA NA Shizuishan 2020 40 NA NA NA Xinyang 2020 40 NA NA NA Yibin 2020 40 NA NA NA Kanpur 2020 40 NA 191.6 NA Pljevlja 2020 40 66 52.7 65

See also Healthy city Zero-carbon city

References