Pakistan was ranked the third most polluted country in the world in 2024 while Chad topped the list, according to the annual World Air Quality Report published by Swiss air technology company IQAir on Tuesday.
According to the report, Chad remained the most polluted country overall, followed by Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and India.
Pakistan's average concentration of PM2.5 particles – those less than 2.5 microns in diameter — was 73.7 micrograms per cubic metre (?g/m³), nearly 15 times the safe levels set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
However, despite the record-breaking smog, Pakistan's overall air pollution levels remained unchanged from 2023.
In the Central and South Asia region, Pakistan ranked second, just behind Bangladesh, with Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Sialkot among the 15 most polluted cities in the region.
The report pointed out that Pakistan faces persistently high levels of pollution from multiple sources, including biomass burning, industrial activities, vehicular emissions, brick kilns and construction dust.
Compared to 2023, Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore saw a rise in their annual average pollution levels, while Faisalabad's increase was negligible.
On the other hand, Karachi's PM2.5 readings declined, dropping from over 55 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023 to around 46 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024.
The report also revealed that five Pakistani cities recorded pollution levels exceeding 200 microns in November.
The study analysed data from "more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across 8,954 locations in 138 countries, territories and regions," according to IQAir's air quality scientists.
In Pakistan, nearly seven in ten people suffered health problems due to smog, according to a separate report by international insights firm Ipsos.
In terms of PM2.5 exposure, Chad's pollution levels were 18 times higher than WHO safe limits while India's levels were 10 times above the WHO-recommended threshold. Despite an improvement in 2024, India still accounted for six of the world's nine most polluted cities.
The report named Byrnihat as the "most polluted metropolitan area of 2024", while New Delhi was ranked the world's most polluted capital, followed closely by N'Djamena in Chad.
Other highly polluted capitals included Dhaka, Bangladesh (3rd place), Kinshasa, DR Congo (4th place) and Islamabad, Pakistan (5th place).
Byrnihat, an industrial town on the border of Meghalaya and Assam, recorded an average PM2.5 level of 128.2 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024, which is more than 25 times the WHO recommended level of five micrograms.
Across India, PM2.5 concentrations averaged 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre, ten times above WHO safety levels. While South Asia continues to grapple with extreme pollution, Oceania was the cleanest region in 2024.
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