Our World in Data - Air Pollution

A breakdown of the sources of many air pollutants that damage our health and ecosystems.

Outdoor air pollution is one of the world’s largest health and environmental problems.

Indoor air pollution – caused by the burning of firewood, crop waste, and dung for cooking and heating – is a major health risk of the world's poorest.

August 06, 2024 Outdoor air pollution is a significant health issue that impacts well-being and mortality. It can increase the risk of several leading causes of death, including stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory diseases like asthma. This chart shows that death rates from outdoor air pollution vary widely across countries. These rates, measured as the number of premature deaths …

Air pollution tends to get worse before it gets better, but how can we accelerate this transition?

January 27, 2026 In 2000, less than 10% of the population in Indonesia had access to clean cooking fuels. This is now over 90%, as the chart shows. Clean cooking fuels are those that, when burned, emit less than the World Health Organization's recommended amounts of air pollutants. They reduce the burden of air pollution — and its health impacts — for the households that use them. In 2007, the In…

Air pollution tends to get worse as incomes rise, then it turns and pollution levels decline.

London once had local pollution levels as high as some of the most polluted cities in other parts of the world today.

About three billion people in the world do not have access to modern energy sources for cooking. Millions die from indoor air pollution every year.

January 03, 2025 China has dramatically reduced local air pollution levels — particularly in its biggest cities — in the last decade. One rapidly declining pollutant is sulphur dioxide (SO2), which generates smog and can cause acid rain. Its primary source is coal burning. In the chart, you can see the annual emissions of SO2 in China. They rose steeply during the 1980s and 1990s. But they peaked…

3-in-10 people in the world do not have access to clean cooking fuels. What do they use instead?

This data review presents published estimates of the global death toll from air pollution and provides the context that makes them understandable.

January 28, 2025 Global emissions of local air pollutants have probably passed their peak. The chart shows estimates of global emissions of pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (which causes acid rain), nitrogen oxides, and black and organic carbon. These pollutants are harmful to human health and can also damage ecosystems. It looks like emissions have peaked for almost all of these pollutants. Gl…

May 10, 2024 The Community Emissions Data System (CEDS) produces invaluable long-term data on the emissions of air pollutants worldwide. It has just published its latest update, extending this data to 2022. One of the most striking changes in air pollution trends has been the abrupt drop in sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from shipping. As you can see in the chart — where shipping is highlighted i…