Data published on Tuesday showed that Pakistan remained one of the world’s three smoggiest countries in 2023, as Bangladesh and India replaced Chad and Iran with particulate matter about 15 times the level recommended by the World Health Organization.
In 2023, the average concentration of PM2.5—tiny airborne particles that damage the lungs—reached 79.9 micrograms per cubic meter in Bangladesh and 73.7 micrograms in Pakistan.
The WHO recommends no more than five micrograms.
“Because of the climate conditions and the geography (in South Asia), you get this streak of PM2.5 concentrations that just skyrocket because the pollution has nowhere to go,” said Christi Chester Schroeder, air quality science manager at IQAir, a Swiss air monitoring organization.
“Factors such as agricultural practices, industry, and population density are also contributing. Unfortunately, it looks like it will get worse before it gets better.
In 2022, Bangladesh was ranked as having the fifth-worst air quality, and India was eighth.
Md Firoz Khan, an air pollution expert at Dhaka’s North South University, said about 20 percent of premature deaths in Bangladesh are attributed to air pollution, and related healthcare costs amount to 4 percent to 5 percent of the country’s GDP.
Indian pollution increased last year, with PM2.5 levels about 11 times higher than the WHO standard. India’s New Delhi was the worst-performing capital city, at 92.7 micrograms.
