Pakistan was ranked the world’s smoggiest nation in 2025, with concentrations of hazardous small particles referred to as PM2.5 as much as 13 occasions larger than the beneficial World Well being Group (WHO) degree, analysis confirmed on Tuesday.
Swiss air high quality monitoring agency IQAir stated in its annual report that 13 international locations and territories saved common PM2.5 ranges on the WHO normal of lower than 5 microgrammes per cubic meter final 12 months, up from seven in 2024.
In keeping with the findings of the report, in whole, 130 out of 143 monitored international locations and territories failed to satisfy the WHO pointers.
Bangladesh and Tajikistan had been second and third on essentially the most polluted record.
Chad, statistically the smoggiest nation of 2024, ranked fourth in 2025, however the decline in PM2.5 concentrations final 12 months is more likely to be the results of information gaps.
Final March, the US shut down a world monitoring program that compiled air pollution information collected from its embassy and consulate buildings, citing price range constraints.
“The lack of the info in March made it seem there was a major drop in PM2.5 ranges [in Chad]however the truth of the matter is that we do not know,” stated Christi Chester Schroeder, lead writer of the IQAir report.
The US resolution eradicated a major information supply for a lot of smog-prone international locations, and Burundi, Turkmenistan and Togo had been excluded from the 2025 report due to data gaps.
India’s Loni was the world’s most polluted metropolis in 2025, with common PM2.5 ranges of 112.5 micrograms, adopted by Hotan within the northwestern Chinese language area of Xinjiang at 109.6 micrograms.
The world’s prime 25 most polluted cities had been all in India, Pakistan and China.
Solely 14 p.c of the world’s cities met the WHO normal in 2025, down from 17 p.c a 12 months earlier, with Canadian wildfires driving up PM2.5 throughout the US and so far as Europe.
Among the many international locations that met the usual in 2025 had been Australia, Iceland, Estonia and Panama.
Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia all reported vital PM2.5 reductions in comparison with the earlier 12 months, thanks primarily to wetter and windier La Niña climate.
Mongolia noticed common concentrations fall 31pc to 17.8 microgrammes per cubic meter.
In all, 75 international locations reported decrease PM2.5 ranges in 2025 in comparison with a 12 months earlier, with 54 recording larger common concentrations, IQAir stated.
