Report: These were the countries with the most air pollution in the world in 2022

Chad, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Bahrain and Bangladesh are high on the global ranking of countries with the worst air in the world. In contrast, the island of Guam had the cleanest air in the world last year.

Lahore in Pakistan has climbed over ten places to become the city with the world's worst air pollution in 2022, according to Swiss company IQAir's annual global ranking.

IQAir, which specializes in air pollution protection and development of air quality monitoring and cleaning products, today published a report stating that Chad in central Africa has overtaken Bangladesh in 2022 as the country with the greatest air pollution.

Air quality in Lahore worsened to 97.4 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter from 86.5 in 2021, making it the most polluted city in the world.

Hotan, the only Chinese city in the top 20, is followed by Lahore with 94.3 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter.

The next two cities in the ranking are Indian: Bhiwadi, on the outskirts of New Delhi, with pollution levels of 92.7, followed by Delhi at 92.6.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum concentration of 5 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter as a safety limit.

Chad averages 89.7, and Iraq, which stands out as the second most polluted country, has 80.1.

Pakistan, home to two of the five cities with the most polluted air for 2022, is third in the global ranking at 70.9, followed by Bahrain at 66.6.

Bangladesh's air quality has improved since 2021, when it was the country with the worst air pollution. In this latest report it is in fifth place with PM2.5 levels at 65.8 out of 76.9.

India, which has some of the world's worst air-polluted cities, ranks eighth in the latest report with PM2.5 levels at 53.3.

According to the report, India and Pakistan have the worst air quality in the Central and South Asian region, where nearly 60% of the population lives in areas with concentrations of PM2.5 at least seven times higher than recommended levels by WHERE.

One in ten people in the world lives in an area where air pollution poses a threat to their health.

The Pacific island of Guam has the cleanest air in the world with a PM2.5 concentration of 1.3, while Canberra is the cleanest for a capital city at 2.8.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters

(AP Photo/KM Chaudary, File)