During the forest fires of March and April 2022, PM2.5 concentrations spiked 400% higher than WHO recommended levels in northern Thailand where people “are especially vulnerable to negative health impacts from air pollution,” the report said.
The Philippines, ranking 69, had a 14.9 µg/m3 annual average last year.
Meanwhile, Cambodia experienced a 58% reduction in its annual average PM2.5 concentration in 2022, with a record low of 8.3 µg/m3, making it the least polluted country in the region.
Its capital Phnom Penh also had the cleanest air among Southeast Asian cities with 8.3 μg/m3, ranking at at 97.
Among other capital cities, Hanoi performed the worst in the region, with 40.1 μg/m3, and ranked 18 globally. Jakarta followed it at 20 with a 36.2 μg/m3 annual average.
Vientiane was ranked 30, Yangon 35, Bangkok 52, and Metro Manila 62.
Out of the 296 regional Southeast Asian cities in the report, all but eight exceeded the WHO’s limit. Indonesia and Thailand featured the most frequently in the list of the most polluted regional cities, while Vietnam, as well as Indonesia, had least polluted ones.
Only 10% breathing air that poses no health risk
IQAir said it collected 2022 data from over 30,000 air quality monitoring stations across 7,323 locations in 131 countries, territories, and regions.
A scientist with Greenpeace International said such complex data “can inspire communities to demand change and hold polluters to account.”
“Too many people around the world don’t know that they are breathing polluted air… Everyone deserves to have their health protected from air pollution,” Aidan Farrow, an air quality scientist, said.
Air pollution reached alarming levels in 2022, with around 90% of the analyzed countries and territories exceeding WHO’s air quality guidelines, IQAir said.
Experts and scientists consider air pollution the world’s biggest environmental health threat, with poor air quality accounting for over six million deaths yearly.
The total economic cost equates to over U.S.$8 trillion, surpassing 6.1% of the global annual GDP, according to the World Bank’s global health cost report released last year.
The IQAir report said only 13 countries and territories had “healthy” air quality. None of them are from Asia, Africa, or South America.