Key facts
Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risk to health. By reducing air pollution levels, countries can reduce the burden of disease from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma.
The lower the levels of air pollution, the better the cardiovascular and respiratory health of the population will be, both long- and short-term.
The WHO Air Quality Guidelines: Global Update 2021 provide an assessment of health effects of air pollution and thresholds for health–harmful pollution levels.
In 2019, 99% of the world population was living in places where the WHO air quality guidelines levels were not met.
Ambient (outdoor air pollution) in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide in 2016.
Some 91% of those premature deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries, and the greatest number in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions.
Policies and investments supporting cleaner transport, energy-efficient homes, power generation, industry and better municipal waste management would reduce key sources of outdoor air pollution.
In addition to outdoor air pollution, indoor smoke is a serious health risk for some 2.6 billion people who cook and heat their homes with biomass, kerosene fuels and coal.
Air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting everyone in low-, middle-, and high-income countries.
Air pollution in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide per year in 2016; this mortality is due to exposure to fine particulate matter of 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5), which cause cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and cancers.
People living in low- and middle-income countries disproportionately experience the burden of outdoor air pollution with 91% (of the 4.2 million premature deaths) occurring in low- and middle-income countries, and the greatest burden in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions. The latest burden estimates reflect the very significant role air pollution plays in cardiovascular illness and death. More and more, evidence demonstrating the linkages between ambient air pollution and the cardiovascular disease risk is becoming available, including studies from highly polluted areas.
There are many examples of successful policies in transport, urban planning, power generation and industry that reduce air pollution.
Industry clean technologies that reduce industrial smokestack emissions; improved management of urban and agricultural waste, including capture of methane gas emitted from waste sites as an alternative to incineration (for use as biogas).
Energy ensuring access to affordable clean household energy solutions for cooking, heating and lighting.
Transport shifting to clean modes of power generation; prioritizing rapid urban transit, walking and cycling networks in cities as well as rail interurban freight and passenger travel; shifting to cleaner heavy-duty diesel vehicles and low-emissions vehicles and fuels, including fuels with reduced sulfur content.
Urban planning improving the energy efficiency of buildings and making cities more green and compact, and thus energy efficient.
Power generation increased use of low-emissions fuels and renewable combustion-free power sources (like solar, wind or hydropower); co-generation of heat and power; and distributed energy generation (e.g. mini-grids and rooftop solar power generation).
Municipal and agricultural waste management strategies for waste reduction, waste separation, recycling and reuse or waste reprocessing; as well as improved methods of biological waste management such as anaerobic waste digestion to produce biogas, are feasible.
Alternatives to the open incineration of solid waste. Where incineration is unavoidable, then combustion technologies with strict emission controls are critical.
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