Smart Air has put together the “Top 15 Least Polluted Cities in the European Union in 2023” list to highlight the city with the best air quality in the EU. This is an important list because air pollution is a major cause of death in the European Union, with 238,000 lives lost in 2021 alone. Almost 98% of Europeans breathe air with unsafe pollution levels.
*This ranking is derived from PM2.5 air pollution data from the two years leading up to the publication date.
Rankings: 15 Least Polluted Cities in the EU
1. Faro, Portugal (3,7 µg/m3)
2. Umeå, Sweden (3,9 µg/m3)
3. Uppsala, Sweden (4,0 µg/m3)
4. Funchal, Portugal (4,2 µg/m3)
5. Talinn, Estonia (4,3 µg/m3)
6. Tampere, Finland (4,3 µg/m3)
7. Norrköping, Sweden (4,7 µg/m3)
8. Stockholm, Sweden (4,8 µg/m3)
9. Narva, Estonia (4,9 µg/m3)
10. Helsinki, Finland (5,3 µg/m3)
11. Tartu, Estonia (5,7 µg/m3)
12. Saint Denis, France (5,8 µg/m3)
13. Sassari, Italy (5,9 µg/m3)
14. Gothenburg, Sweden (6,6 µg/m3)
15. Kiel, Germany (6,9 µg/m3)
Read more: The 15 Most Polluted Cities in the European Union
What is the Least Polluted Country in the European Union?
Sweden has topped the charts with 5 of the 25 least polluted cities in the EU and the Northern and Western Baltic regions being the cleanest, with 13 cities in Denmark, Germany, Finland, Estonia, and Sweden. Astonishingly, even the capitals of the latter three and Ireland ended up on the list. Nonetheless, only 9 of the 25 cities fall under the WHO PM2.5 concentration target of 5 µg/m3.
Why is the concentration of PM2.5 so important?
Particulate matter with a diameter equal to or less than 2.5 micrometers is regarded as one of the most hazardous types of pollution. They penetrate our circulation and lungs, resulting in numerous deadly illnesses.
Data bias
Certain EU cities, such as Valletta, are not reported on due to a lack of data. Therefore, they could not be taken into account for the ranking.
Open Data
The following link provides access to all the air pollution data for EU cities included in the ranking: https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/air/urban-air-quality/european-city-air-quality-viewer.
Data source: EEA
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