PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO in Australia
Australia: PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO was 24.9% in 2017. ▼ Falling
PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO in Australia, 1990–2017
Source: Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Measured in % of total.
Analysis
In 2017, pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in Australia stood at 24.9%. That is the lowest value across all 12 years on record.
That represents a change of down 25.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in Australia peaked at 36.3% in 2011 and was at its lowest, 24.9%, in 2017.
Australia ranks 179th of 194 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO in Australia, year by year
| Year | % of total | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 31.9% | — |
| 1995 | 31.6% | -0.9% |
| 2000 | 33.8% | +7.0% |
| 2005 | 33.5% | -1.0% |
| 2010 | 33.0% | -1.6% |
| 2011 | 36.3% | +10.2% |
| 2012 | 30.7% | -15.6% |
| 2013 | 28.3% | -7.8% |
| 2014 | 27.1% | -4.1% |
| 2015 | 26.0% | -3.9% |
| 2016 | 24.9% | -4.4% |
| 2017 | 24.9% | -0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 31.7% | 31.6% | 31.9% | 2 |
| 2000s | 33.7% | 33.5% | 33.8% | 2 |
| 2010s | 28.9% | 24.9% | 36.3% | 8 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More urban development data for Australia
- Population in the largest city 22.3% (2025)
- Population density 3.47 people per sq. km of land area (2023)
- PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure 6.41 micrograms per cubic meter (2023)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, per capita 0.6073 units per person (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 16.77 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, annual 1.28 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, per unit 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, per square 2.13 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Population in largest city 5.39 million (2025)
- Crude steelmaking capacity 5.43 Tonnes (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in Australia?
- Pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in Australia was 24.9% in 2017, according to Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
- What is the highest pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 36.3% in 2011.
- What is the lowest pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 24.9% in 2017.
- How does Australia rank for pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who?
- Australia ranks 179th out of 194 countries with data for 2017.
- Is pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), published as part of PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO guideline value (% of total). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Percent of population exposed to ambient concentrations of PM2.5 that exceed the WHO guideline value is defined as the portion of a country’s population living in places where mean annual concentrations of PM2.5 are greater than 10 micrograms per cubic meter, the guideline value recommended by the World Health Organization as the lower end of the range of concentrations over which adverse health effects due to PM2.5 exposure have been observed.