Smart Air is dedicated to providing free educational content on the dangers of air pollution and helping people breathe safely. We analyzed data published by the World Air Quality Index project and put together the 2023 updated ranking of the “25 Cities with the Worst Air Pollution in the World”.
Air pollution remains a prevalent health crisis around the world, with many cities recording dangerous levels of air pollution; some over 15 times the recommended annual limit of 5µg/m3 by the World Health Organisation. Studies have found evidence that air pollution levels are positively correlated with the risk of disease from stroke, lung cancer, heart disease, and respiratory diseases.
Data Source: https://aqicn.org/data-platform/covid19/
Watch: Run Down of Top 5 Most Polluted Cities in the World in 2022
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Scroll down below for the full rundown of the world’s most polluted cities, which countries they’re in, and their annual average PM2.5 levels.
Rankings: 25 Most Polluted Cities in the World in 2023
1. Dhaka, Bangladesh (114.5 µg/m3)
2. Lahore, Pakistan (95.1 µg/m3)
3. Patna, India (67.0 µg/m3)
4. New Delhi, India (65.9 µg/m3)
5. Delhi, India (64.0 µg/m3)
6. Urumqi, China (63.4 µg/m3)
7. Muzaffarnagar, India (62.4 µg/m3)
8. Xi’an, China (57.9 µg/m3)
9. Xuchang, China (57.0 µg/m3)
10. Peshawar, Pakistan (56.2 µg/m3)
11. Anyang, China (54.6 µg/m3)
12. Dushanbe, Tajikistan (53.8 µg/m3)
13. Ghaziabad, India (53.5 µg/m3)
14. Zhengzhou, China (53.3 µg/m3)
15. Lucknow, India (53.1 µg/m3)
16. Xinxiang, China (51.6 µg/m3)
17. Lanzhou, China (49.5 µg/m3)
18. Shijiazhuang, China (48.6 µg/m3)
19. Kathmandu, Nepal (48.5 µg/m3)
20. Dubai, United Arab Emirates (47.8 µg/m3)
21. Visakhapatnam, India (46.8 µg/m3)
22. Chandigarh, India (45.8 µg/m3)
23. Taiyuan, China (45.2 µg/m3)
24. Baghdad, Iraq (44.9 µg/m3)
25. Tianjin, China (44.9 µg/m3)
Read More: The 25 Least Polluted Cities in the World?
Analysis
Of the 25 most air-polluted cities in the world, 10 were located in China, 8 in India, and 2 in Pakistan.
The number of Indian cities on the top 25 list decreased from 9 to 8 since 2023. China saw a significant jump from 4 to 10 cities joining our annual ranking this year.
Read More: 20 Most Polluted Cities in India (2023 Rankings)
All of the ranked cities had average air quality many times above the WHO recommended annual limit. Many of the cities with the worst air quality are located in similar geographical areas on the globe. Other countries featured on the list in this 2023 update include Bangladesh, Iraq, Tajikistan, Nepal, and UAE.
This article serves as a stark reminder of the pressing issue faced by urban populations worldwide. With Dhaka, Bangladesh, topping the list at 114.5 µg/m3 of PM2.5, and several other cities closely following suit, it’s evident that air quality remains a significant concern in densely populated regions.
Data bias
Africa and South America have fewer public air quality monitoring stations, so it is difficult to know the pollution levels on the ground in these regions.
The fact that so many Indian cities are featured on the list is a testament to the fact that they have large and wide air pollution monitoring networks set up to detect pollution levels.
How Air Pollution Was Measured to Find Most Polluted Cities in the World
These rankings of the 2023 most polluted cities in the world use data on average PM2.5 pollution levels from the 12 months before the publication date.
These small particles are under 2.5 micrograms in width and are considered to be one of the more dangerous pollutants due to their ability to enter deep into the lungs and bloodstream.
Open Data
The PM2.5 AQI 2023 world pollution data used for the rankings of the world’s worst polluted cities are openly available. To download the complete raw data visit https://aqicn.org/data-platform/covid19/.
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