Breathing in Cambodia is Injurious to Health.

Air pollution threatens the health of 16.9 million people across 25 regions in Cambodia. The average PM2.5 level is 18.8 ”g/m³—3.8× higher than the WHO guideline.

Brought to you by Amrit Sharma

Air Pollution in Cambodia

Cambodia faces significant air pollution challenges. 100% of states exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 16.9 million across 25 states at risk.

The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 18.8”g/m³. That's 3.8 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5”g/m³.

This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 312 cigarettes in a year.

Life Expectancy Impact

Every person in Cambodia is losing 1.35 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 Cambodia, 22.8M years of life hang in the balance. That's the collective future being taken from 16.9 million people—simply by breathing.

States with Highest Pollution

The top 10 most polluted regions in Cambodia by PM2.5 levels. These regions face the greatest health burden from air pollution.

Population Exposure by Pollution Level

Distribution of population across different PM2.5 pollution levels. The WHO guideline is 5 ”g/m³—only populations below this threshold are breathing safe air.

< 5 ”g/m³
0%
0
5-10 ”g/m³
0%
0
10-15 ”g/m³
0.3%
44K
15-25 ”g/m³
99.7%
16.8M
25-35 ”g/m³
0%
0
> 35 ”g/m³
0%
0