The world’s most polluted capital cities have been ranked, revealing alarming ranges of dangerous particles in our city areas
Delhi in India is essentially the most polluted capital metropolis on this planet, in line with the newest World Air High quality Report from Eanda Swiss air‐high quality expertise firm.
On the different finish of the size, Nassau within the Bahamas is the world’s least polluted capital metropolis. The Bahamas can also be the nation with the cleanest air in the world total.
The annual world evaluation makes use of empirically measured floor‐stage PM2.5 knowledge – from over 40,000 monitoring stations throughout 8,954 areas in 138 nations, territories, and areas – to analyse annual air high quality publicity at metropolis, nation and regional ranges.

The report contains in depth metropolis and nationwide rankings, regional summaries and a world map. It paints a sobering image: air air pollution stays a world problem, with solely a handful of nations assembly WHO tips.
But incremental progress is happening – cities adhering to thresholds have almost doubled year-over-year. By combining strong measurement practices with broad geographic knowledge, the report supplies a significant useful resource within the battle for cleaner air.
10 most polluted capital cities
IQAir estimates that 99% of the worldwide inhabitants lives in areas not assembly WHO air high quality suggestions. Air air pollution is the second-leading world threat issue for untimely demise, particularly amongst kids.
- DELHI, India
- N’djamena, chad
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Kinshasa, DR Congo
- Islamabad, Pakistan
- Dushanbe, Tajikistan
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Kathmandu, Nepal
- Abuja, Nigeria
- Jakarta, Indonesia

8 least polluted capital cities
Solely 17% of worldwide cities and simply eight capital cities meet the WHO’s air air pollution tips.
- Nassau, Bahamas
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Papeete, French Polynesia
- Bridgetown, Barbados
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- Canberra, Australia
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Tallinn, Estonia

Air High quality Index
The report analyses outcomes from over 40,000 monitoring stations world wide, making it the world’s largest centralised platform for measuring air high quality.
It additionally attracts on knowledge collected from 1000’s of fresh air initiatives administered by governments, non-profit organisations, residents, communities and personal firms.
The report focuses on PM2.5 concentrations (μg/m³) as this pollutant is extensively thought to be most dangerous to human well being. PM2.5 is outlined as ambient airborne particles measuring as much as 2.5 microns in measurement. A micron (or micrometre) is one-millionth of a metre or one-thousandth of a millimetre.

Its microscopic measurement permits the particles to enter the bloodstream through the respiratory system and journey by way of the physique, inflicting a variety of well being issues, together with bronchial asthma, lung most cancers and coronary heart illness.
Air air pollution can also be related to low delivery weight, elevated acute respiratory infections and stroke.
The WHO’s Air Quality Guideline value for PM2.5 publicity, which has been confirmed to be freed from well being impacts, is 10µg/m³ or 10 micrograms of air pollutant per cubic meter of air.

Most polluted capital cities – full rating
The World Air High quality Report ranks 121 nationwide capital cities from essentially the most polluted to the least.
| Rank | Metropolis | PM2.5 focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DELHI, India | 91.8 |
| 2 | N’djamena, chad | 91.6 |
| 3 | Dhaka, Bangladesh | 78.0 |
| 4 | Kinshasa, DR Congo | 58.2 |
| 5 | Islamabad, Pakistan | 52.4 |
| 6 | Dushanbe, Tajikistan | 46.3 |
| 7 | Hanoi, Vietnam | 45.4 |
| 8 | Kathmandu, Nepal | 45.1 |
| 9 | Abuja, Nigeria | 42.2 |
| 10 | Jakarta, Indonesia | 41.7 |
| 11 | Kampala, Uganda | 41.0 |
| 12 | Kigali, Rwanda | 40.8 |
| 13 | Baghdad, Iraq | 40.5 |
| 14 | Cairo, Egypt | 39.9 |
| 15 | Yaounde, Cameroon | 36.3 |
| 16 | Accra, Ghana | 36.3 |
| 17 | Abu Dhabi, UAE | 32.0 |
| 18 | Manama, Bahrain | 31.8 |
| 19 | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | 31.4 |
| 20 | Doha, Qatar | 31.3 |
| Rank | Metropolis | PM2.5 focus |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Beijing, China | 30.9 |
| 22 | Sarajevo, Bosnia Herz. | 30.8 |
| 23 | Kuwait Metropolis, Kuwait | 30.2 |
| 24 | Vientiane, Laos | 27.5 |
| 25 | Ashgabat, Turkmenistan | 26.5 |
| 26 | Lome, Togo | 26.0 |
| 27 | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia | 25.7 |
| 28 | Harare, Zimbabwe | 24.8 |
| 29 | Yerevan, Armenia | 24.4 |
| 30 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 23.7 |
| 31 | Dakar, Senegal | 22.3 |
| 32 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 22.2 |
| 33 | Phnom Penh, Cambodia | 21.9 |
| 34 | Skopje, North Macedonia | 21.6 |
| 35 | Lusaka, Zambia | 21.4 |
| 36 | Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan | 21.2 |
| 37 | Antananarivo, Madagascar | 20.5 |
| 38 | Tripoli, Libya | 19.9 |
| 39 | Pretoria, South Africa | 19.6 |
| 40 | Mexico Metropolis, Mexico | 19.5 |
| Rank | Metropolis | PM2.5 focus |
|---|---|---|
| 41 | Guatemala Metropolis, Guatemala | 18.9 |
| 42 | Bangkok, Thailand | 18.9 |
| 43 | Baku, Azerbaija | 18.3 |
| 44 | 5, Peru | 18.2 |
| 45 | Belgrade, Serbia | 17.9 |
| 46 | Macao, Macao Sar | 17.7 |
| 47 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 17.7 |
| 48 | Georgetown, Guyana | 17.5 |
| 49 | Seoul, South Korea | 17.5 |
| 50 | Manila, Philippines | 17.4 |
| 51 | Santiago, Chile | 17.3 |
| 52 | San Salvador, El Salvador | 17.3 |
| 53 | Colombo, Sri Lanka | 16.9 |
| 54 | Djibouti, Djibouti | 16.8 |
| 55 | Podgorica, Montenegro | 16.8 |
| 56 | Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR | 16.4 |
| 57 | Asuncion, Paraguay | 15.9 |
| 58 | Bucharest, Romania | 15.7 |
| 59 | Ljubljana, Slovenia | 15.6 |
| 60 | Algiers, Algeria | 15.4 |
| Rank | Metropolis | PM2.5 focus |
|---|---|---|
| 61 | Astana, Kazakhstan | 15.4 |
| 62 | Nicosia, Cyprus | 15.2 |
| 63 | Libreville, Gabon | 15.2 |
| 64 | Tegucigalpa, Honduras | 15.2 |
| 65 | Tbilisi, Georgia | 15.1 |
| 66 | Israel, Israel | 15.0 |
| 67 | Chisinau, Moldova | 14.7 |
| 68 | Tirana, Albania | 14.5 |
| 69 | Nairobi, Kenya | 14.4 |
| 70 | Pristina, Kosovo | 14.2 |
| 71 | Zagreb, Croatia | 14.1 |
| 72 | Warsaw, Poland | 13.4 |
| 73 | Bogota, Colombia | 12.7 |
| 74 | Paramaribo, Suriname | 12.5 |
| 75 | Male, Maldives | 12.2 |
| 76 | Budapest, Hungary | 12.0 |
| 77 | Bratislava, Slovakia | 12.0 |
| 78 | Montevideo, Uruguay | 11.5 |
| 79 | Prague, Czech Rep | 11.4 |
| 80 | Singapore, Singapore | 11.4 |
| Rank | Metropolis | PM2.5 focus |
|---|---|---|
| 81 | Sofia, Bulgaria | 11.2 |
| 82 | Sucre, Bolivia | 11.1 |
| 83 | Athens, Greece | 11.0 |
| 84 | Berlin, Germany | 10.8 |
| 85 | Rome, Italy | 10.1 |
| 86 | Moscow, Russia | 10.0 |
| 87 | Vienna, Austria | 9.7 |
| 88 | Quito, Ecuador | 9.7 |
| 89 | Kyiv, Ukraine | 9.4 |
| 90 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 9.3 |
| 91 | Riga, Latvia | 9.2 |
| 92 | Vilnius, Lithuania | 9.1 |
| 93 | Tokyo, Japan | 9.0 |
| 94 | Ankara, Turkey | 9.0 |
| 95 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 8.9 |
| 96 | Brussels, Belgium | 8.9 |
| 97 | George City, Cayman Islands | 8.5 |
| 98 | Paris, France | 8.3 |
| 99 | Madrid, Spain | 8.1 |
| 100 | London, UK | 7.8 |
| Rank | Metropolis | PM2.5 focus |
|---|---|---|
| 101 | Luxembourg, Luxembourg | 7.7 |
| 102 | Washington DC, USA | 7.6 |
| 103 | Lisbon, Portugal | 7.4 |
| 104 | Bern, Switzerland | 7.2 |
| 105 | Copenhagen, Denmark | 7.1 |
| 106 | Oslo, Norway | 6.9 |
| 107 | Dublin, Eire | 6.6 |
| 108 | Vaduz, Liechtenstein | 6.5 |
| 109 | Ottawa, Canada | 6.0 |
| 110 | Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago | 6.0 |
| 111 | Helsinki, Finland | 5.5 |
| 112 | Stockholm, Sweden | 5.3 |
| 113 | Brasilia, Brazil | 5.2 |
| 114 | Tallinn, Estonia | 4.3 |
| 115 | Wellington, New Zealand | 4.3 |
| 116 | Canberra, Australia | 3.9 |
| 117 | Reykjavik, Iceland | 3.8 |
| 118 | Bridgetown, Barbados | 3.1 |
| 119 | Papeete, French Polynesia | 2.8 |
| 120 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 2.6 |
| 121 | Nassau, Bahamas | 2.3 |
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Lead picture: Anjali Kumari/Dreamstime
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