Delhi Remains World’s Most Polluted Capital For Sixth Year, But This Northeast City Records Higher Pollution

Delhi has earned the title of being the most polluted national capital in the world for the sixth consecutive year, as per the 2024 World Air Quality Report by IQAir, as reported by Indian Express.

With an average PM2.5 concentration of 91.8 µg/m³, the national capital continues to grapple with dangerously high pollution levels — nearly 18 times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) annual safety threshold of 5 µg/m³.

While Delhi recorded a slight improvement from 92.7 µg/m³ in 2023 to 91.6 µg/m³ in 2024, air quality across the National Capital Region (NCR) remains “heavily polluted,” according to the report.

“India saw a 7 per cent decline in PM2.5 concentrations in 2024, averaging 50.6 µg/m³ compared to 54.4 µg/m³ in 2023. Yet six of the world’s 10 most polluted cities are in India,” it noted.

India ranks as the fifth most polluted country globally, slipping two positions from last year. Alarmingly, 13 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are located in India, with Byrnihat, on the Assam-Meghalaya border, registering the highest PM2.5 levels at 128.2 µg/m³.

Other severely affected Indian cities include Faridabad, Loni (Ghaziabad), Gurgaon, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, Noida, Muzaffarnagar, and Central Delhi.

The report, which analysed data from over 40,000 monitoring stations across 8,954 locations in 138 countries, warns, “Air pollution remains a significant health burden in India, reducing life expectancy by an estimated 5.2 years.”

Globally, only 17 per cent of cities met the WHO’s air quality guidelines, and 91.3 per cent of countries exceeded them. South and Central Asia dominated the list of the most polluted urban regions, while Los Angeles emerged as the most polluted major US city.