IQAir World Air Quality Report 2024: Chad Ranks 1st, India Secures 5th Position Globally.

International

In March 2025, Switzerland-based air quality technology company IQAir released the 7th edition of the "World Air Quality Report 2024," a comprehensive global survey of air pollution levels. Chad topped the list of the most polluted countries with an average PM2.5 concentration of 91.8 µg/m³, while India ranked 5th, following Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Congo.


      - In 2024, India recorded an average PM2.5 concentration of 50.6 µg/m³, marking a 7% decline from 54.4 µg/m³ in 2023. Despite this improvement, 6 of the world’s 10 most polluted cities are located in India.

     

     

Main Point :-   (i) According to the World Air Quality Report 2024, only 7 out of 138 countries analyzed met the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline of 5 µg/m³, while over 90% of nations recorded unsafe levels of pollution.

      (ii) The 7 countries that met the WHO guideline are Australia (4.5 µg/m³), New Zealand (4.4 µg/m³), Estonia (4.6 µg/m³), Iceland (4.0 µg/m³), Barbados (3.1 µg/m³), Grenada (3.2 µg/m³), and The Bahamas (2.3 µg/m³).

(iii) Byrnihat, a town on the Assam-Meghalaya border in India, was ranked as the most polluted city globally, with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 128.2 µg/m³, far exceeding the WHO air quality guideline.

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