The concern for environmental pollution on the planet grows over the years. As cities have grown, industry has expanded and energy consumption has increased significantly, resulting in a pressure on the environment and a worsening of the quality of the air we breathe.
And pollution is no longer a distant problem, but has become an everyday reality that affects the health and quality of life of citizens. So much so that a recent report has revealed that so Only 13 countries in the world have clean air.
Without a doubt, this is a context that generates social alarm since it affects the health of the global population. Air quality is deteriorating around the world, mainly due to human-caused climate change, which is causing The percentage of clean air on the planet decreases every year.
The limits of the WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) sets safety limits for fine particulate matter PM2.5 due to the health risks they pose. Due to their size, these inhalable particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, generating health problems. They are related to respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases and chronic diseases such as cancer.
Based on this classification, only thirteen countries in the world meet the standards set by the WHO.
Only thirteen countries in the world have good air quality
According to the Swiss pollution monitoring company called IQAir, only 14% of the world’s cities breathe air considered safe3% less compared to 2025. The company is based on an analysis of data from 9,446 cities in 143 countriesregions and territories to obtain conclusions that really concern society.
The reality is that a large part of the planet has air quality problems due to factors such as forest fire smoke, dust storms and other weather phenomenaextremes by the burning of fossil fuels.
The three European countries with clean air
Among the 13 countries with good air quality, three belong to Europe. Just Andorra, Estonia and Iceland meet the WHO annual recommendation for PM2.5 particles in 2025, set at 5 micrograms per cubic meter, which implies that Spain It is part of the long list of European countries that have poor air quality.
They are added to them at a global level Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, French Polynesia, Grenada, New Caledonia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Reunion and the United States Virgin Islands. This means that only 13 of the 143 countries studied meet the established standards.
The most polluted countries
For its part, the study classifies the worst countries in terms of pollution. In this case, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo They are among the worst regions, all above 50 micrograms per cubic meter.
However, the most polluted place on the planet is in India. loniin the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, recorded an average annual concentration 112.5 micrograms per cubic metera value that is practically double that of many countries internationally.
According to studies, the 25 most polluted cities in the world are all in India, Pakistan and China, and three of the four most polluted are in India, including the city of Loni.
Where is the most polluted air in Europe?
At European level, there are three countries that are at the top of the most contaminated territories. First of all there is Italywhere in 2023 there were 43,083 deaths attributed to air pollution.
Added to it Poland and Germanywith 25,268 and 21,640 attributable deaths, respectively.