Air pollution threatens the health of 438 million people across 16 countries in South America. The average PM2.5 level is 14.9 µg/m³—3.0× higher than the WHO guideline.
Brought to you by Amrit Sharma
South America faces significant air pollution challenges. 81% of countries exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 438 million across 16 countries at risk.
The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 14.9µg/m³. That's 3.0 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5µg/m³.
This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 247 cigarettes in a year.
Every person in South America is losing 0.98 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 South America, 428.9M years of life hang in the balance. That's the collective future being taken from 438 million people—simply by breathing.
The top 10 most polluted countries in South America 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 µg/m³—only populations below this threshold are breathing safe air.
Browse detailed air quality data for every country in South America.