PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure in Africa

54 countries in Africa, 2023. Unit: µg/m³. World ranking →

First in the ranking
9.3 µg/m³
Seychelles
Median country
26.9 µg/m³
half above, half below
World
32.9 µg/m³
World Bank aggregate
Range
9.3 to 65.7
Seychelles - Nigeria

How to read it

Across 54 countries in Africa, the highest value is in Nigeria (65.7 µg/m³) and the lowest in Seychelles (9.3 µg/m³).

The median country is at 26.9 µg/m³: half are above, half below.

Population-weighted exposure to ambient PM2.5 pollution is defined as the average level of exposure of a nation's population to concentrations of suspended particles measuring less than 2.5 microns in aerodynamic diameter, which are capable of penetrating deep into the respiratory tract and causing severe health damage. Exposure is calculated by weighting mean annual concentrations of PM2.5 by population in both…

Compare selected countries · on the world map

Source: Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 (GBD 2023) Air Pollution Exposure Estimates and Risk Curves 1990-2023, GBD Collaborator Network, uri… · via World Bank WDI (EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3) · licence

PM2.5 exposure over time

µg/m³

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Ranking of countries

2023
In chart Share of the highest value
1Seychelles9.3
2Comoros10.2
3Madagascar12.4
4Botswana13.2
5Mozambique13.7
6Mauritius14.1
7Namibia14.2
8Zimbabwe15.0
9São Tomé and Principe15.1
10Algeria16.5
11Malawi16.7
12Eswatini16.7
13Liberia17.9
14Somalia18.5
15Morocco18.7
16Tunisia18.9
17Angola19.9
18Libya20.0
19Tanzania20.2
20Cabo Verde20.2
21Zambia20.2
22Kenya20.3
23Côte d'Ivoire20.4
24Sierra Leone22.5
25South Sudan23.7
26Ethiopia23.8
27Lesotho26.4
28Guinea27.3
29South Africa27.7
30Ghana28.1
31Uganda31.2
32Gabon31.3
33Guinea-Bissau32.3
34Central African Republic33.3
35Eritrea33.7
36Togo34.3
37Mali35.5
38Burundi35.7
39Democratic Republic of the Congo35.8
40Rwanda36.0
41Republic of the Congo36.5
42Burkina Faso37.3
43Sudan37.6
44The Gambia38.3
45Benin39.7
46Djibouti40.3
47Senegal41.6
48Equatorial Guinea42.2
49Chad43.0
50Egypt43.1
51Mauritania46.5
52Cameroon55.6
53Niger65.2
54Nigeria65.7
World Bank, WDI · EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3 · 2023 · CC BY 4.0 Source and licence

Tick a country in the table to add it to the chart above, up to six at a time. The ranking uses the latest year for which at least half of the countries have a value; countries without a value that year are not listed.