Home / Environment / Pakistan Tops Global Smog List: 13x WHO Limit
Pakistan Tops Global Smog List: 13x WHO Limit
24 Mar
Summary
- Pakistan ranked world's smoggiest country in 2025.
- PM2.5 levels were up to 13 times higher than WHO recommendations.
- India's Loni was the most polluted city globally in 2025.
Pakistan was identified as the world's most polluted country in 2025, experiencing PM2.5 levels up to 13 times higher than recommended by the World Health Organization. A report revealed that only 13 countries globally met the WHO's PM2.5 standard of less than 5 micrograms per cubic meter in the past year. This marks an improvement from seven countries meeting the standard in 2024.
In total, 130 out of 143 monitored countries and territories failed to meet the WHO guideline. Bangladesh and Tajikistan followed Pakistan as the second and third most polluted nations. Chad, previously the smoggiest country in 2024, dropped to fourth place, though this may be due to data gaps following the US closure of a global monitoring program.
India's Loni emerged as the world's most polluted city in 2025, with an average PM2.5 level of 112.5 micrograms. The top 25 most polluted cities were concentrated in India, Pakistan, and China. Globally, only 14% of cities met the WHO standard, a decrease from the previous year, partly due to Canadian wildfires affecting air quality across North America and Europe. Australia, Iceland, Estonia, and Panama were among the nations that met the standard.
