Pakistan ranks third most polluted country in 2024: Report

Islamabad: Pakistan ranked the third most polluted country in 2024 when it faced unprecedented smog, according to a report on Tuesday.

According to Swiss air technology company IQAir’s 2024 World Air Quality Report, Chad topped the rankings for the most polluted country, followed by Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and then India, Dawn reported.

Pakistan last year witnessed unprecedented smog levels, especially in Punjab, where the situation was declared a “calamity” and around two million people had to seek treatment for resulting health issues.

The government took various steps to combat pollution, including imposing lockdowns and closing schools.

For Pakistan, the average concentration of particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) was 73.7 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³) — nearly 15 times higher than the safe levels set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the report said.

Interestingly, despite the record smog, Pakistan’s average pollution last year remained the same as in 2023, it added.

In the Central and South Asia region, Pakistan ranked second — just behind Bangladesh — with Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Sialkot among the 15 most polluted cities in the region.

“Pakistan faces persistently high levels of pollution from various sources, including biomass burning, industrial activities, vehicular emissions, brick kilns, and construction dust,” the report noted.

Compared to 2023, Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore witnessed a spike in their annual average readings, while Faisalabad saw a negligible rise, according to the report.

On the other hand, the PM2.5 readings for Karachi declined from over 55 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023 to around 46 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024.

The report said five Pakistani cities saw levels rise above 200 microns during November.

The study was based on “more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across 8,954 locations in 138 countries, territories, and regions analysed by IQAir’s air quality scientists”.

About seven in 10 people in Pakistan faced health issues because of smog, according to a report by international insights firm Ipsos.

Readings for Chad were 18 times higher than WHO safe levels, while those for India were 10 times more than the recommended limits.

Air pollution — atmospheric and domestic — was the main environmental risk to health in 2021, responsible for 8.1 million premature deaths worldwide, according to estimates in the “State of Global Air 2024” report carried out by the Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, reported Dawn.