PARIS, March 11, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Despite an improvement in 2024, India again 
dominated global rankings for the cities with the most dangerous particle 
smog while Chad was the most polluted country, according to a report 
published Tuesday.

The report by IQAir, a Swiss air technology company, said India's Byrnihat 
was the world's "most polluted metropolitan area of 2024".

The Indian capital New Delhi was the world's most polluted capital, closely 
followed by Chad's N'Djamena. The Bangladesh capital Dhaka came third, ahead 
of Kinshasa and Islambad.

Chad topped the rankings for the most polluted country overall, with readings 
18 times higher than World Health Organisation safe levels for concentrations 
of particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5)

It was followed by Bangladesh, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and 
then India in fifth place. India was home to six of the world's nine most 
polluted cities.

Byrnihat, an industrial town on the border of Meghalaya and Assam states, had 
a PM2.5 reading of 128.2 micrograms per cubic metre on average in 2024, more 
than 25 times the WHO recommended level of five micrograms.

Concentrations across India were 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre, 10 times 
the WHO safe level, according to the report by IQAir, made with Greenpeace's 
support.

The overall level was seven percent down from 2023, but Indian cities are 
still suffering badly from concentrations of small particles, which come from 
vehicles, agricultural burning, garbage and industrial waste.

South Asia's pollution skyrockets in winter months, and highlighting India's 
struggle, the report said that Baddi in Himachal Pradesh state had an average 
reading of 165 microns in January -- 33 times the WHO safe level.

It said that five Pakistani cities saw levels rise above 200 microns during 
November.

The study was based on "more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations 
across 8,954 locations in 138 countries, territories, and regions analyzed by 
IQAir's air quality scientists," it said.

"Oceania is the world's cleanest region, with 57% of regional cities meeting 
the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline value," the report said.

Bosnia was the worst polluted country in Europe, with PM2.5 levels more than 
five times over the WHO limit. It was followed by North Macedonia and Serbia. 
Serbia's Novi Pazar was the most polluted city, the report said.

Burkina Faso, 5th in 2023, as well as Iran and Afghanistan, were not included 
in the report due to insufficient data.

Only seven countries had concentrations below the WHO guidelines: Estonia, 
Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Grenada, and Barbados.

However, 17 percent of cities studied met the WHO standard in 2024, compared 
with just nine percent in 2023, the report said.

Air pollution -- atmospheric and domestic -- was the main environmental risk 
to health in 2021, responsible for 8.1 million premature deaths worldwide, 
according to estimates in the "State of Global Air 2024" report carried out 
by the Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and 
Evaluation.