PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO in OECD members
OECD members: PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO was 60.6% in 2017. ▼ Falling
PM2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO in OECD members, 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 OECD members stood at 60.6%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.1% on the previous year and down 23.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in OECD members peaked at 80.6% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 60.5%, in 2016.
That places OECD members 44th out of 47 groups 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 OECD members, year by year
| Year | % of total | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 80.6% | — |
| 1995 | 79.3% | -1.6% |
| 2000 | 78.4% | -1.1% |
| 2005 | 78.7% | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 76.8% | -2.4% |
| 2011 | 79.5% | +3.6% |
| 2012 | 73.1% | -8.1% |
| 2013 | 70.5% | -3.5% |
| 2014 | 66.1% | -6.3% |
| 2015 | 65.6% | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 60.5% | -7.6% |
| 2017 | 60.6% | +0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 79.9% | 79.3% | 80.6% | 2 |
| 2000s | 78.6% | 78.4% | 78.7% | 2 |
| 2010s | 69.1% | 60.5% | 79.5% | 8 |
More urban development data for OECD members
- Population in the largest city 18.1% (2025)
- Population density 39.29 people per sq. km of land area (2023)
- PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure 12.02 micrograms per cubic meter (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in OECD members?
- Pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who in OECD members was 60.6% 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 OECD members?
- The highest recorded value was 80.6% in 1990.
- What is the lowest pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who recorded in OECD members?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.5% in 2016.
- How does OECD members rank for pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who?
- OECD members ranks 44th out of 47 groups with data for 2017.
- Is pm2.5 air pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who rising or falling in OECD members?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this OECD members 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.