Air pollution threatens the health of 1.45 billion people across 61 countries in Africa. The average PM2.5 level is 18 µg/m³—3.6× higher than the WHO guideline.
Brought to you by Amrit Sharma
Africa faces significant air pollution challenges. 85% of countries exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 1.45 billion across 61 countries at risk.
The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 18µg/m³. That's 3.6 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5µg/m³.
This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 299 cigarettes in a year.
Every person in Africa is losing 1.29 years of their life to air pollution. This isn't just a statistic—it's grandparents who won't see their grandchildren graduate. Parents missing birthdays. Lives cut short. Breathing kills.
These stolen years come from diseases you know—COPD that makes every breath a struggle, lung cancer that turns healthy tissue deadly, heart attacks that strike without warning, strokes that change everything in an instant. Air pollution doesn't just kill. It damages your body from the inside, every single day.
Across Africa, 1.87B years of life hang in the balance. That's the collective future being taken from 1.45 billion people—simply by breathing.
The top 10 most polluted countries in Africa by PM2.5 levels. These nations face the greatest health burden from air pollution.
Distribution of population across different PM2.5 pollution levels. The WHO guideline is 5 µg/m³—only populations below this threshold are breathing safe air.
Browse detailed air quality data for every country in Africa.