Air pollution threatens the health of 1.42 billion people across 33 regions in China. The average PM2.5 level is 27.4 Āµg/mĀ³ā5.5Ć higher than the WHO guideline.
Brought to you by Amrit Sharma
China faces significant air pollution challenges. 100% of states exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 1.42 billion across 33 states at risk.
The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 27.4Āµg/mĀ³. That's 5.5 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5Āµg/mĀ³.
This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 455 cigarettes in a year.
Every person in China is losing 2.19 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 China, 3.10B years of life hang in the balance. That's the collective future being taken from 1.42 billion peopleāsimply by breathing.
The top 10 most polluted regions in China by PM2.5 levels. These regions 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 region in China.