Countries with the Most Polluted Air 2023
About This Dataset
Countries with the Most Polluted Air 2023
Countries ranked by PM2.5 air pollution (micrograms per m3) in 2023, using World Bank figures for the 200 countries that reported that year. Qatar leads on 107.8, ahead of Saudi Arabia (73.5) and Bangladesh (69.3). The population-weighted average exposure to fine particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres, in micrograms per cubic metre. It is modelled from satellite readings and ground monitors, because most countries have too few monitors for a direct national average.
Analysis
Qatar (107.8), Saudi Arabia (73.5) and Bangladesh (69.3) take the top three. Across the twenty shown, values run from 107.8 down to 42.2, a spread of 65.6. Most of that spread sits between first and second alone (34.3 of 65.6), so Qatar stands apart from the rest of the table. 11 of the 20 reach half the leading figure, 53.9 or more. The chart shows the twenty highest of 200 reporting countries, so it describes the top of the distribution rather than the world average.
Source:
World Bank
Key Findings
🏆
Qatar leads in PM2.5 Air Pollution (Micrograms per m3) with 107.80 in 2023.
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Average PM2.5 Air Pollution (Micrograms per m3) in 2023: 57 · median: 55.
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Gap in 2023: Qatar is 2.6× larger than Equatorial Guinea.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- World Bank
- Coverage
- 20 entities · 2023 · 20 observations
- Measure
- PM2.5 Air Pollution (Micrograms per m3)
- Last updated
- 6 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
- Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2023.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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