Breathing in Papua Barat is Injurious to Health.

Air pollution threatens the health of 1.1 million people across 11 districts in Papua Barat. The average PM2.5 level is 11.5 µg/m³—2.3Ɨ higher than the WHO guideline.

Brought to you by Amrit Sharma

Air Pollution in Papua Barat

Papua Barat faces significant air pollution challenges. 100% of districts exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 1.1 million across 11 districts at risk.

The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 11.5µg/m³. That's 2.3 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5µg/m³.

This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 191 cigarettes in a year.

Air Quality Trend

Annual PM2.5 levels from 2014 to 2023. The WHO guideline for safe air is 5 µg/m³.

Life Expectancy Impact

If Papua Barat met the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³, the average person would live 0.63 years longer.

That's 665K years of life stolen from 1.1 million people. Years of watching children grow up. Years of building a career. Years of quiet mornings and celebrations.

Lives cut short. Breathing kills.

Districts with Highest Pollution

The top 10 most polluted districts in Papua Barat. These areas face the greatest health burden from air pollution.

  • 1.Teluk Bintuni
    1 years lost
  • 2.Teluk Wondama
    0.9 years lost
  • 3.Maybrat
    0.9 years lost
  • 4.Kaimana
    0.8 years lost
  • 5.Sorong Selatan
    0.8 years lost
  • 6.Tambrauw
    0.8 years lost
  • 7.Fakfak
    0.6 years lost
  • 8.Manokwari
    0.6 years lost
  • 9.Sorong
    0.5 years lost
  • 10.Kota Sorong
    0.5 years lost

Population Exposure by Pollution Level

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.

< 5 µg/m³
0%
0
5-10 µg/m³
30.2%
319K
10-15 µg/m³
62%
655K
15-25 µg/m³
7.8%
82K
25-35 µg/m³
0%
0
> 35 µg/m³
0%
0

All 11 Districts in Papua Barat

Complete air quality data for every district in Papua Barat, sorted by population.

DistrictPopulationPM2.5 µg/m³Years Lost
Manokwari273K
11.4
0.6 years
Kota Sorong272K
9.9
0.5 years
Sorong115K
10.4
0.5 years
Teluk Bintuni82K
15.4
1.0 years
Fakfak79K
11.5
0.6 years
Sorong Selatan53K
13.0
0.8 years
Raja Ampat47K
9.2
0.4 years
Maybrat44K
14.6
0.9 years
Kaimana35K
13.5
0.8 years
Teluk Wondama29K
14.7
0.9 years
Tambrauw28K
13.0
0.8 years

Showing 11 districts, sorted by population (largest first). PM2.5 values are for 2023. Years lost calculated against WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.