Bangladesh recorded an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 78.0 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), ranking second after Chad among 138 countries and territories
File Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
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File Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
Bangladesh has dropped from the world’s most polluted country to the second worst in 2024, according to the latest global air quality report by IQAir, a Swiss air-monitoring organisation that tracks global pollution levels.
The 2024 World Air Quality Report, released today (11 March), revealed that Bangladesh recorded an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 78.0 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), ranking second after Chad among 138 countries and territories.
Air pollution in Bangladesh remains alarmingly high as its recorded PM2.5 concentration is over 15 times higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended annual guideline of 5 µg/m3.
Meanwhile, in 2024, just seven countries — Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Estonia, Grenada, Iceland, and New Zealand — met the WHO’s PM2.5 air quality standards.
Bangladesh was featured as the world’s most polluted country for the year 2023, with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 79.9 µg/m3.
The capital city, Dhaka, saw a slight improvement, with an annual PM2.5 concentration of 78.0 µg/m³ in 2024, down from 80.2 µg/m³ in 2023. Despite this, it ranked as the third most polluted capital city globally, behind N’Djamena in Chad and New Delhi in India.
In 2023, Dhaka was the second most polluted capital city.
PM2.5 concentration, fine particulate matter that is less than or equal to 2.5 microns in diameter, serves as the standard air quality metric for this report.
Natural sources contributing to PM2.5 include dust storms, sandstorms, and wildfires. It is so tiny – 1/20th of a width of a human hair – that it can slip past your body’s usual defences into your lungs or bloodstream.
For this year’s report, data from more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across 8,954 cities in 138 countries, territories, and regions were analysed by IQAir’s air quality scientists.
Earlier this year, on 18 January, a study titled “Public Health Impacts of Fine Particle Air Pollution in Bangladesh” by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) revealed that air pollution is responsible for 102,456 annual deaths in Bangladesh due to ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections, and lung cancer.