Which country has the cleanest air in the world?

The countries with the cleanest air in the world have been ranked in a new report. We take a look at the results

The island nation of the Bahamas has the world’s cleanest air according to the latest World Air Quality Report by IQAir. The report ranks 98 countries and territories by the level of fine particulate matter present in the air.

Air pollution continues to pose one of the biggest threats to human health, causing the death of seven million people every year. Billions more suffer the effects of poor air quality. In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 92% of the global population breathes toxic air.

The Bahamas have the cleanest air in the world, followed by the territory of the US Virgin Islands, then Iceland, Finland and Estonia. At the other end of the spectrum, Bangladesh has the worst air quality followed by Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan and India respectively.

Air Quality Index

The report analyses results from over 60,000 monitoring stations located across the globe, making it the world’s largest centralised platform for measuring air quality. It also draws on data collected from thousands of clean air initiatives administered by governments, non-profit organisations, citizens, communities and private companies.

The report focuses on PM2.5 concentrations as this is the pollutant widely regarded as most harmful to human health. PM2.5 is defined as ambient airborne particles measuring up to 2.5 microns in size. A micron (or micrometre) is one-millionth of a metre or one-thousandth of a millimetre.

Its microscopic size allows the particles to enter the bloodstream via the respiratory system and travel through the body, causing a range of health problems including asthma, lung cancer and heart disease. Air pollution is also associated with low birth weight, increased acute respiratory infections and stroke.

The WHO’s Air Quality Guideline value for PM2.5 exposure – which has been proven to be free of health impacts – is 10µg/m³ or 10 micrograms of air pollutant per cubic meter of air. There are only 18 countries and territories, out of the 98 assessed, which pass these guidelines.

most polluted cities

The report also produces a ranking for 355 of the world’s cities. Delhi famously hit the headlines in 2020 when the city witnessed drastically improved air quality when restrictions were introduced due to the pandemic. However, the city soon returned to “normal” when pollution hit “emergency” levels in November 2020 and the city became enveloped in thick toxic smog.

The world’s 30 most polluted cities are all located in Asia, with 21 in India alone and 27 in South Asia. Ghaziabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is the world’s most polluted city while Delhi is the world’s most polluted capital.

COUNTRY RANKING: Cleanest air in the world

The World Air Quality Report ranks 98 countries and territories. States that have been omitted lacked sufficient ground-based PM2.5 monitoring stations.

Rank	Country	Ave. PM2.5
1	Bahamas	3.3
2	US Virgin Islands	3.5
3	Iceland	5.6
4	Finland	5.6
5	Estonia	6.2
6	Sweden	6.6
7	Norway	6.9
8	New Zealand	7.5
9	Canada	7.7
10	Australia	8.0
11	Ecuador	8.6
12	USA	9.0
13	Portugal	9.3
14	Malta	9.4
15	Denmark	9.6
16	Luxembourg	9.6
17	Spain	9.7
18	Russia	9.9
19	Puerto Rico	10.2
20	Costa Rica	10.4
21	UK	10.5
22	Ireland	10.6
23	Switzerland	10.9
24	Netherlands	10.9
25	Germany	11.0
26	Japan	11.4
27	Austria	12.2
28	France	12.3
29	Belgium	12.5
30	Latvia	13.3
31	Czech Rep.	14.5
32	Lithuania	14.5
33	Hungary	14.6
34	Argentina	14.6
35	Colombia	14.6
36	Brazil	15.8
37	Angola	15.9
38	Slovakia	16.1
39	Ukraine	16.6
40	Italy	17.1
41	Taiwan	17.2
42	Philippines	17.6
43	Egypt	18.0
44	Jordan	18.3
45	Romania	18.3
46	Poland	18.7
47	Singapore	19.0
48	Croatia	19.1
49	Malaysia	19.4
50	Cyprus	19.7
51	Mexico	20.0
52	Georgia	20.1
53	Ethiopia	20.1
54	Guatemala	20.2
55	Hong Kong SAR	20.3
56	Turkey	20.6
57	Israel	20.8
58	Cambodia	21.1
59	Algeria	21.2
60	Nigeria	21.4
61	South Africa	21.6
62	Saudi Arabia	22.1
63	Greece	22.5
64	Chile	22.6
65	Laos	23.1
66	Peru	23.3
67	Serbia	23.3
68	Macao SAR	23.5
69	Kosovo	23.5
70	Kazakhstan	23.6
71	Thailand	24.3
72	Iran	24.3
73	South Korea	24.8
74	Sri Lanka	25.2
75	Bulgaria	25.5
76	Armenia	25.5
77	Uganda	29.1
78	Ghana	30.3
79	Myanmar	31.0
80	DR Congo	32.1
81	Syria	32.2
82	North Macedonia	32.4
83	Kyrgyzstan	33.2
84	Vietnam	34.1
85	Bosnia & Herz.	34.6
86	Kuwait	38.3
87	UAE	38.9
88	China	39.1
89	Iraq	39.6
90	Uzbekistan	41.2
91	Nepal	44.5
92	Bahrain	46.8
93	Indonesia	51.7
94	India	58.1
95	Afghanistan	58.8
96	Mongolia	62.0
97	Pakistan	65.8
98	Bangladesh	83.3

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Lead image: Blue Planet Studio/Shutterstock