According to IQAir research, 42 cities in India were among the world’s top 50 most polluted cities. India polluted city 2023 included Begusarai as the most polluted urban region, followed by Guwahati and Delhi.
The Swiss air quality monitoring group IQAir research depicts, India is the third most polluted country in 2023, behind only Bangladesh and Pakistan. As per the ‘World Air Quality Report 2023’, with an average yearly PM2.5 concentration of 54.4 micrograms per cubic meter, India had the third poorest air quality out of 134 nations in 2023, after Bangladesh (79.9 micrograms per cubic meter) and Pakistan (73.7 micrograms per cubic meter).
India’s average PM2.5 concentration in 2022 was 53.3 micrograms per cubic meter, making it the world’s seventh most polluted nation. At the same time, the survey depicts 42 of the world’s top 50 most polluted cities in India.
India polluted city 2023 List
Begusarai was the most polluted metropolitan region in 2023, followed by Guwahati and Delhi. Begusarai, Bihar, had an average PM 2.5 concentration of 118.9 micrograms per cubic meter last year. The rate is up significantly from 19.7 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022. The city was not even included in the 2022 rankings.
The quantity of PM2.5 in Guwahati doubled between 2022 and 2023, rising from 51 to 105.4 micrograms per cubic meter. Delhi, which has long struggled with air pollution. It saw an increase in PM2.5 concentrations from 89.1 to 92.7 micrograms per cubic meter during the same period.
Other Indian towns in the top 50 most polluted cities of the world list included Greater Noida (11), Muzzafarnagar (16), Gurgaon (17), Arrah (18), Dadri (19), Patna (20), Faridabad (25), Noida (26), Meerut (28), Ghaziabad (35) and Rohtak (47).
IQAir’s research data came from over 30,000 air quality monitoring stations. All these stations spread across 7,812 locations in 134 nations, territories, and regions.
Notable Points of the IQAir research
- In 2023, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Tajikistan, and Burkina Faso were the top five most polluted countries globally.
- Seven countries met the WHO annual PM2.5 standard (average five µg/m3 or less). This includes Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius, and New Zealand.
- Africa remains the most undervalued continent, with one-third of the population still needing help to acquire air quality data.
- India is home to 9 of the world’s top ten most polluted cities.
- After five years of annual decreases, PM2.5 in China increased 6.3% to 32.5 micrograms last year.
- Canada was the most polluted nation in Northern America for the first time in the report’s history. Also it was with 13 of the most polluting cities in the region being inside its borders,
