EU-27 urban populace exposed to poor air quality

In 2021, less than one percent of the European Union's urban population were exposed to concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) above EU air quality standards. However, EU air quality standards are much less strict than those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). When WHO guidelines are taken into account, almost 100 percent of the EU's urban population were exposed to levels of PM2.5 that are damaging to health.

Share of the urban population of the European Union exposed to air pollution levels above EU standards and WHO guidelines in 2021, by pollutant

Characteristic	EU air quality standards	WHO air quality guidelines
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Release date

November 2023

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Region

Survey time period

2021

Supplementary notes

*Figures are below 1%.
EU air quality standards for each pollutant:
PM2.5 — population exposed to concentrations above 25 µg/m3.
PM10 — population exposed to daily concentrations exceeding 50 µg/m3 for more than 35 days per year.
O3 — population exposed to maximum daily 8-hour mean concentrations exceeding 120 µg/m3 for more than 25 days per year.
NO2 — population exposed to annual concentrations above 40 µg/m3.
These criteria are based on the limit values (for PM and NO2) and target values (for O3) set in the Ambient Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC.

WHO guidelines for each pollutant:
PM2.5 — population exposed to annual concentrations above 5µg/m3.
PM10 — population exposed to annual concentrations above 15µg/m3
O3 — population exposed to maximum daily 8-hour mean concentrations exceeding 100µg/m3 for more than 3-4 days per year.
NO2 — population exposed to annual concentrations above 10µg/m3.
These criteria are based on the air quality guideline values defined by the World Health Organization in 2021.

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