PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure in South America

12 countries in South America, 2023. Unit: µg/m³. World ranking →

First in the ranking
10.9 µg/m³
Uruguay
Median country
17.7 µg/m³
half above, half below
World
32.9 µg/m³
World Bank aggregate
Range
10.9 to 31.1
Uruguay - Peru

How to read it

Across 12 countries in South America, the highest value is in Peru (31.1 µg/m³) and the lowest in Uruguay (10.9 µg/m³).

The median country is at 17.7 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
1Uruguay10.9
2Brazil13.4
3Argentina14.3
4Paraguay15.3
5Suriname15.7
6Guyana16.9
7Colombia18.4
8Ecuador18.6
9Venezuela19.2
10Chile23.1
11Bolivia28.1
12Peru31.1
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.