Breathing in Almaty is Injurious to Health.

Air pollution threatens the health of 4.4 million people across 17 districts in Almaty. The average PM2.5 level is 12.8 µg/m³—2.6× higher than the WHO guideline.

AboutMake Air Quality Great AgainAQLI Data

Brought to you by Amrit Sharma

Overview

Air Pollution in Almaty

Almaty faces significant air pollution challenges. 100% of districts exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 4.4 million across 17 districts at risk.

The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 12.8µg/m³. That's 2.6 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5µg/m³.

This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 212 cigarettes in a year.

Trends

Air Quality Trend

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

Health Impact

Life Expectancy Impact

If Almaty met the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³, the average person would live 0.76 years longer.

That's 3.3M years of life stolen from 4.4 million people. Years of watching children grow up. Years of building a career. Years of quiet mornings and celebrations.

Lives cut short. Breathing kills.

Most Polluted

Districts with Highest Pollution

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

  • 1.Panfilovskiy
    1.1 years lost
  • 2.Almaty (Alma-Ata)
    0.9 years lost
  • 3.Karasayskiy
    0.8 years lost
  • 4.Talgarskiy
    0.8 years lost
  • 5.Iliyskiy
    0.8 years lost
  • 6.Uygurskiy
    0.7 years lost
  • 7.Enbekshikazakhskiy
    0.7 years lost
  • 8.Taldyqorghan
    0.5 years lost
  • 9.Aksuskiy
    0.5 years lost
  • 10.Koksuskiy
    0.5 years lost
Exposure

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
15.7%
690K
10-15 µg/m³
80.9%
3.5M
15-25 µg/m³
3.4%
147K
25-35 µg/m³
0%
0
> 35 µg/m³
0%
0
Districts

All 17 Districts in Almaty

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

DistrictPopulationPM2.5 µg/m³Years Lost
Almaty (Alma-Ata)1.7M
14.4
0.9 years
Iliyskiy522K
12.9
0.8 years
Karasayskiy396K
13.1
0.8 years
Enbekshikazakhskiy328K
12.1
0.7 years
Taldyqorghan283K
10.1
0.5 years
Talgarskiy251K
12.9
0.8 years
Zhambylskiy202K
9.4
0.4 years
Panfilovskiy147K
16.1
1.1 years
Raiymbekskiy92K
9.3
0.4 years
Alakolskiy79K
9.3
0.4 years
Uygurskiy75K
12.4
0.7 years
Koksuskiy62K
9.7
0.5 years
Kerbulakskiy58K
8.6
0.4 years
Karatal`skiy58K
8.8
0.4 years
Aksuskiy49K
9.8
0.5 years
Sarkandskiy49K
9.6
0.5 years
Balkhashskiy40K
8.2
0.3 years

Showing 17 districts, sorted by population (largest first). PM2.5 values are for 2023. Years lost calculated against WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.