Air pollution threatens the health of 4.56 billion people across 45 countries in Asia. The average PM2.5 level is 31.3 Āµg/mĀ³ā6.3Ć higher than the WHO guideline.
Brought to you by Amrit Sharma
Asia faces significant air pollution challenges. 98% of countries exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 4.56 billion across 45 countries at risk.
The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 31.3Āµg/mĀ³. That's 6.3 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5Āµg/mĀ³.
This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 519 cigarettes in a year.
Every person in Asia is losing 2.57 years of their life to air pollution. This isn't just a statisticāit's grandparents who won't see their grandchildren graduate. Parents missing birthdays. Lives cut short. Breathing kills.
These stolen years come from diseases you knowāCOPD 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 Asia, 11.73B years of life hang in the balance. That's the collective future being taken from 4.56 billion peopleāsimply by breathing.
The top 10 most polluted countries in Asia 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 Āµg/mĀ³āonly populations below this threshold are breathing safe air.
Browse detailed air quality data for every country in Asia.