According to a new survey released on March 11th by IQAir, a Swiss company that measures air quality in various countries, urban areas in India continue to be the top-ranked cities with the worst air quality in the world. On the list of most polluted cities, six of the top ten are in India. Despite this, overall, pollution in India has dropped 7% when compared to 2023.

For the analysis, IQAir considered the amount of very fine particles in the air, or PM2.5. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), close to 99% of the world’s population breathes impure air, a scenario increasingly affected by Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) emissions. PM2.5 is an important indicator, because when its particles are inhaled in excess, they can severely impact health due to heart and lung diseases. 

Latin America

The good news came from Latin America, which saw an overall improvement in air quality in countries such as Mexico. In Brazil, forest fires – which in 2024 mainly affected the Amazon – were the main cause of increased pollution in some cities. The Brazilian cities of Porto Velho (Rondônia), Sena Madureira (Acre), Rio Branco (Acre), and Osasco (São Paulo) stood out in the ranking of places with the worst pollution in Latin America. 

The ten most polluted cities:

1. Byrnihat, India 

2. Delhi, India 

3. Karaganda, Kazakhstan                       

4. Mullanpur, India

5. Lahore, Pakistan

6. Faridabad, India

7. Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan

8. N’Djamena, Chad

9. Loni, India

10. New Delhi, India

The five most polluted countries:

1. Chad

2. Bangladesh

3. Pakistan

4. Democratic Republic of Congo

5. India

73. Brazil

The places with best air quality: 

1. Bahamas

2. Bermuda

3. French Polynesia

4. US Virgin Islands

5. Puerto Rico

Glossary:

Greenhouse Gases (GHGs): polluting gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2). When released (by transportation or factories, for example), they rise to the atmosphere and become “trapped” there, accumulating in a kind of layer. This layer prevents heat from leaving the Earth and, when intensified by human activity, leads to global warming. 

Sources: IQAir, CNN, Folha de S.Paulo, WHO, and UN

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