PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO in France
France: PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO was 78.2% in 2017. ▼ Falling
PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO in France, 1990–2017
Source: Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Measured in % of total.
Analysis
The most recent figure for pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in France is 78.2%, measured in 2017. That is the lowest value across all 12 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and down 21.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in France peaked at 99.8% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 78.2%, in 2017.
France ranks 167th 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 France, year by year
| Year | % of total | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 99.8% | — |
| 1995 | 99.6% | -0.1% |
| 2000 | 99.4% | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 99.6% | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 99.5% | -0.1% |
| 2011 | 99.7% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 98.6% | -1.1% |
| 2013 | 97.4% | -1.2% |
| 2014 | 87.8% | -9.8% |
| 2015 | 90.4% | +2.9% |
| 2016 | 78.3% | -13.4% |
| 2017 | 78.2% | -0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 99.7% | 99.6% | 99.8% | 2 |
| 2000s | 99.5% | 99.4% | 99.6% | 2 |
| 2010s | 91.2% | 78.2% | 99.7% | 8 |
Countries ranked near France
More urban development data for France
- Population in the largest city 20.9% (2025)
- Population density 126.86 people per sq. km of land area (2023)
- PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure 8.23 micrograms per cubic meter (2023)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, per capita 0.2309 units per person (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 15.87 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, annual 0.6226 % 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 29.09 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Population in largest city 11.35 million (2025)
- Crude steelmaking capacity 19.12 Tonnes (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in France?
- Pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in France was 78.2% 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 France?
- The highest recorded value was 99.8% in 1990.
- What is the lowest pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who recorded in France?
- The lowest recorded value was 78.2% in 2017.
- How does France rank for pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who?
- France ranks 167th out of 194 countries with data for 2017.
- Is pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who rising or falling in France?
- Over the last ten years it is down 21.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this France 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.