What is Georgia’s ranking in terms of air pollution?
What is Georgia’s ranking in terms of air pollution?
Swiss air pollution technology company IQAIR has published the 2021 World Air Quality Report. The report contains PM2.5 levels in 6,475 cities in 117 countries around the world.
According to the World Air Quality Report, in terms of average annual concentration, Georgia ranks 42nd out of 117 countries, with a PM 2.5 concentration of 21 μg/m3. Tbilisi ranks 40th out of 107 capitals with the average concentration of 20.4 μg/m3 and is marked with an orange line, which means that PM2.5 levels are approximately 4 times higher than the level recommended by the WHO.
According to the report, one of the most polluted cities in West Asia is Rustavi, where the PM 2.5 annual concentration in 2021 was 34.8 μg/m3. Rustavi is marked with a red line, which means that the indicators have exceeded the normal level by approximately 7 times. Batumi is the least polluted city in the region, where the concentration was 14.3 μg /m3 , which is almost 4 times higher than normal.
What if we only take into consideration Rustavi data – 34.8 μg / m3 to estimate Georgia’s rank? then Georgia would move from 42nd to 17th place. In terms of air pollution, ahead in the list would be the following 16 countries: Bangladesh, Chad, Pakistan, Tajikistan, India, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, Bahrain, Iraq, Nepal, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Montenegro. As you can see, in terms of air pollution, only 1 European country would have worse condition than Georgia with only 0.5 μg / m3 (this approach is methodologically incorrect, but it’s still interesting).
The information material was prepared based on the 2021 World Air Quality Report, within the framework of the project “Defending Our Right to Clean Air in Rustavi” which is implemented with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy.