Countries with the Most Polluted Air 2021
Key Findings
About This Dataset
Countries with the Most Polluted Air 2021Qatar (107.9), Saudi Arabia (73.7) and Bangladesh (73.1) take the top three. Across the twenty shown, values run from 107.9 down to 41.5, a spread of 66.4. Most of that spread sits between first and second alone (34.2 of 66.4), so Qatar stands apart from the rest of the table. 11 of the 20 reach half the leading figure, 54.0 or more. Qatar stood at 99.2 in 2020, so its figure rose by 8.7 over the year. Qatar also came first in 2020. Of the 20 in this table that also reported in 2020, 17 recorded a higher figure than the year before and 3 a lower one. The largest single move was Qatar, from 99.2 to 107.9. The chart shows the twenty highest of 200 reporting countries, so it describes the top of the distribution rather than the world average.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- World Bank
- Coverage
- 20 entities · 2021 · 20 observations
- Measure
- PM2.5 Air Pollution (Micrograms per m3)
- Last updated
- 7 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
- Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2021.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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