Only seven countries worldwide met WHO air quality standards last year

• Only seven countries—Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia, and Iceland—met the World Health Organization’s air quality standards in 2024. Chad and Bangladesh had the worst air quality, with pollution levels over 15 times higher than the WHO’s recommended limits.
• India showed slight improvement but still had 12 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities. Only 17% of cities worldwide met the WHO’s air quality guidelines.
• The closure of the U.S. embassy air quality monitoring program is expected to impact 34 countries. One expert called it a “giant blow to air quality efforts worldwide.”

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A report released this week found just seven countries met the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards in 2024. Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir compiled the data.

“IQAir today announced the release of its 7th annual World Air Quality Report, highlighting alarming trends of the world’s most polluted countries, territories, and regions in 2024,” the organization said in a statement. “For this year’s report, data from more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across 8,954 locations in 138 countries, territories, and regions were analyzed by IQAir’s air quality scientists.”

Which countries met the WHO’s standards?

Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia, and Iceland were the only nations to achieve WHO’s recommended air quality guidelines. Meanwhile, Chad and Bangladesh were ranked the most polluted countries in 2024, with smog levels over 15 times higher than the WHO’s standards.

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The report also highlighted Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and India among the top five countries with the worst air quality. Though India did see slight improvements in its air quality rankings, the country still accounted for 12 of the 20 most polluted cities globally. In total, only 17% of cities worldwide could meet the WHO’s air quality guidelines.

How accurate is this report?

Experts, however, cited significant data gaps, particularly in regions like Asia and Africa, which complicate the global understanding of air pollution. Many developing countries in these areas have relied on air quality data from U.S. embassy and consulate monitoring stations. However, the U.S. State Department recently ended this program, citing budget constraints. As a result, official U.S. air quality sources no longer has over 17 years worth of data.

“Most countries have a few other data sources, but it’s going to impact Africa significantly because oftentimes, these are the only sources of publicly available real-time air quality monitoring data,” Christi Chester-Schroeder, IQAir’s air quality science manager, said.

What happens next?

Christa Hasenkopf, director of the Clean Air Program at the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, noted that at least 34 countries will lose access to reliable air quality data with the cessation of the U.S. monitoring program. Hasenkopf called this a “giant blow to air quality efforts worldwide.”