AQLI 2025 Report: Air Pollution Reduces India’s Average Life Expectancy by 3.5 Years, Delhi-NCR Worst Hit.
National
A recent Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) 2025 report by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) reveals that air pollution is now India’s most critical health threat, reducing the average life expectancy by 3.5 years. This stark finding highlights the urgent need for effective clean-air policies.
- The AQLI analysis, using 2023 particulate matter (PM₂.₅) data, shows that all 1.4 billion Indians breathe air above the World Health Organization (WHO) safe limit of 5 µg/m³, and particulate levels exceed India’s own standard of 40 µg/m³ for nearly half the population, leading to widespread health risks.
- The Northern Plains emerge as the world’s most polluted region, with around 544 million people—38.9% of India’s population—exposed to dangerously poor air quality, resulting in the steepest regional losses in life expectancy.
Main Point :- (i) Residents of the Delhi-NCR region are disproportionately affected, with life expectancy reduced by up to 8.2 years compared to meeting WHO air standards; even under India’s national threshold, their life expectancy still drops by 4.74 years, underscoring the severity of pollution in the capital.
(ii) When compared to other major threats, air pollution’s impact far outweighs them: it cuts life expectancy nearly twice as much as childhood and maternal malnutrition (1.6 years), more than triple that of tobacco use (1.5 years), and more than five times that of unsafe water and sanitation (~8.4 months).
(iii) Despite India’s ongoing National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and other efforts, pollution levels rose by 2.8% in 2023, marking South Asia as the most polluted region globally. The report calls for urgent, ambitious measures to reverse the trend and restore public health.
About Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC)
Director : Michael Greenstone
Headquarters : Chicago, the United States of America(USA)
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