Delhi tops the list of the world’s most polluted capital cities in 2023
- Aditya Achary
- Nov 10, 2024
- 2 min read
According to the World Air Quality Report, Delhi was the third most polluted city in India, in terms of PM (Particulate Matter) 2.5 levels, after Begusarai and Guwahati
Delhi was the most polluted capital city in the world last year, and the third most polluted city in India in terms of PM (Particulate Matter) 2.5 levels, according to the World Air Quality Report for 2023.
The report was prepared by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company. It uses data from across the world from monitoring stations of government agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organisations, according to the report.
In 2023, Delhi’s annual average PM 2.5 level was 92.7 µg/m3 — placing the Indian national capital at the top of a list of 114 capital cities in the world. This was followed by Dhaka in Bangladesh, with a PM 2.5 level of 80.2 µg/m3. Air quality guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggest that annual average PM 2.5 levels should not exceed 5 µg/m3.
Meanwhile, out of a total of 134 countries or regions that the report considered, India ranked third with an annual average PM 2.5 level of 54.4 µg/m3, after Bangladesh and Pakistan, both of which had levels over 70 µg/m3.
“It is estimated that 1.36 billion people in India experience PM 2.5 concentrations exceeding the WHO recommended annual guideline level of 5 µg/m3; furthermore, 1.33 billion, or 96% of the population, experience PM 2.5 levels more than seven times the WHO annual PM 2.5 guideline. This trend is reflected in city-level data with more than 66% of the country’s cities reporting annual averages greater than 35 µg/m3,” the report stated.
The report added: “Exposure to these particles (PM 2.5) has been directly linked to health problems including cardiovascular disease, neurological disease, and increased risk of death.
