Population-weighted mean exposure · annual 2000–{{year}} · World Bank WDI · {{count}} countries
Fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) — population-weighted annual mean exposure, in µg/m³, a continuous annual series from 2000 to 2023.
World Bank, World Development Indicators (EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3).
Steps calibrated on the actual 2023 distribution (median 18.9 µg/m³, 90th percentile 43.2). The World Health Organization's benchmark (5 µg/m³) marks the first step.
Qatar (108 µg/m³) and Saudi Arabia (74) top the ranking as much because of desert sandstorms as of industrial pollution proper — a distinction the purely atmospheric measurement doesn't capture. Bangladesh (69) and Nigeria (66) illustrate a more classic urban and industrial pollution instead, tied to biomass burning and transport.