India ranks world fifth most polluted country in 2024

New Delhi: India ranked as the world’s fifth most polluted country in 2024, down from third in 2023 as per the World Air Quality Report 2024 by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company.

The report mentioned that thirteen of the world’s top 20 most polluted cities, with Byrnihat in Assam ranked as the most polluted city globally, while Delhi retains its position as the most polluted capital city worldwide.

The report highlights a slight improvement in India’s air quality, showing a 7% decrease in PM2.5 concentrations.

In 2024, the average PM2.5 level was 50.6 micrograms per cubic meter, compared to 54.4 micrograms per cubic meter in 2023.

Despite this improvement, six of the world’s ten most polluted cities are still located in India.

Delhi recorded consistently high pollution levels, with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 91.6 micrograms per cubic metre, nearly unchanged from 92.7 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023, as per the report.

The 13 Indian cities include , Byrnihat, Delhi, Mullanpur (Punjab), Faridabad, Loni, New Delhi, Gurugram, Ganganagar, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, Muzaffarnagar, Hanumangarh and Noida.

Overall, 35 per cent of the Indian cities reported annual PM2.5 levels exceeding 10 times the WHO limit of 5 micrograms per cubic metre.

According to a Lancet Planetary Health study published last year, about 1.5 million deaths in India every year from 2009 to 2019 were potentially linked to long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution.