PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO in Japan
Japan: PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO was 76.8% in 2017. ▼ Falling
PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO in Japan, 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 Japan stood at 76.8%.
That represents a change of up 1.8% on the previous year and down 16.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in Japan peaked at 92.6% in 2010 and was at its lowest, 75.4%, in 2016.
That places Japan 168th out of 194 countries with data for 2017, putting it 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 Japan, year by year
| Year | % of total | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 92.5% | — |
| 1995 | 92.5% | -0.0% |
| 2000 | 91.7% | -0.8% |
| 2005 | 92.1% | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 92.6% | +0.5% |
| 2011 | 92.6% | -0.0% |
| 2012 | 89.1% | -3.7% |
| 2013 | 89.8% | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 87.8% | -2.2% |
| 2015 | 88.7% | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 75.4% | -15.0% |
| 2017 | 76.8% | +1.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 92.5% | 92.5% | 92.5% | 2 |
| 2000s | 91.9% | 91.7% | 92.1% | 2 |
| 2010s | 86.6% | 75.4% | 92.6% | 8 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More urban development data for Japan
- Population in the largest city 32.5% (2025)
- Population density 341.55 people per sq. km of land area (2023)
- PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure 11.45 micrograms per cubic meter (2023)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, per capita 0.6561 units per person (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 80.94 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, annual -0.222 % 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 222.95 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Population in largest city 37.04 million (2025)
- Crude steelmaking capacity 113.6 Tonnes (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in Japan?
- Pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in Japan was 76.8% 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 Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 92.6% in 2010.
- What is the lowest pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 75.4% in 2016.
- How does Japan rank for pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who?
- Japan ranks 168th out of 194 countries with data for 2017.
- Is pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Japan 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.