Pakistan Ranked World's Most Polluted Country in 2025 IQAir Report

Key facts

• IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring firm, released its annual report identifying Pakistan as the world’s most polluted country in 2025.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standard for healthy air is an average fine particulate matter (PM2.5) of no more than 5 microgrammes per cubic metre.
• Pakistan recorded an average PM2.5 concentration of 67.3 microgrammes per cubic metre, which is over 13 times the WHO recommended level.
• Bangladesh and Tajikistan were ranked as the second and third most polluted countries respectively, while Chad ranked fourth.
• Loni, a city in northern India, was identified as the world’s most polluted city in 2025 with average PM2.5 levels of 112.5 microgrammes per cubic metre.
• Hotan in China’s Xinjiang region was ranked the second most polluted city globally with PM2.5 levels of 109.6 microgrammes per cubic metre.
• The report found that all of the world’s top 25 most polluted cities were located in China, India, and Pakistan.
• Only 13 countries and territories, including Australia, Iceland, Estonia, and Panama, successfully met the WHO air quality guidelines.
• Prolonged exposure to PM2.5 is linked to premature births and neurodegenerative conditions including dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.
• Record levels of biomass burning from wildfires in Europe and Canada released approximately 1,380 megatonnes of carbon in 2025.