Cleanest Countries by Air Quality (2023) — All 200, Ranked

Measured by the air people actually breathe (fine-particle pollution, PM2.5), the cleanest air on Earth is in small, remote places: Greenland tops the list at 1.64 µg/m³. Among larger countries, Finland and the Nordics lead, at about 4.6 µg/m³. The world average is 32.9 µg/m³, over 6.6× the level the WHO calls safe.

World average PM2.5

32.9

µg/m³ · 2023

Cleanest air

1.6

Greenland

Cleanest major country

4.6

4.6 µg/m³ · rank #8

Where the air is cleanest

200 economies · … mapped

Loading map…

Color = PM2.5 (darker means cleaner air). Hover any country for its exact figure.

source: World Bank WDIdata year: 2023geo: 200 economieslower PM2.5 = cleaner air

About this data

method: PM2.5 mean annual exposure, µg/m³, from World Bank (EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3); lower = cleaner

page updated: 2026-07-20

This ranking measures ONE thing: PM2.5 — fine airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns, the pollutant most closely tied to premature death. It is a strong, well-sourced proxy for AIR QUALITY, but it is not a measure of overall environmental health. A country can have clean air and still struggle with water, waste, biodiversity or emissions — and vice versa. Read this as "cleanest air", not "greenest country".

The very cleanest places are small islands and sparsely populated territories — Greenland, Pacific islands, the Arctic — where there is little industry, traffic or dust and the wind clears the air. That is why the top of the list is not full of famous "green" nations. Among larger, more populated countries, Finland, Sweden, Norway and other northern nations consistently have the cleanest air.

The World Health Organization recommends annual PM2.5 stay at or below 5 µg/m³. Only a handful of economies meet it; the global population-weighted average is around 32.9 µg/m³. We show that guideline on the chart below as an honest yardstick.

For a broader environmental picture — water, biodiversity, climate policy and more — see Yale's Environmental Performance Index (EPI). It uses a different, composite methodology; we link to it rather than reproduce its scores.

License: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data). PM2.5 estimates originate from the Global Burden of Disease study.

Air quality by country

Pick any country to see its PM2.5 level, its clean-air rank, and how it compares to the world average and the WHO safe limit.

Country

Choose a country above to see how clean its air is — and where it sits in the world.

e.g. Czechia — 12.8 µg/m³ · #65 of 200

Top 10 countries with the cleanest air

The ten economies with the lowest PM2.5. Longer bar = cleaner air. Most are small islands or remote territories — the honest picture of where fine-particle pollution is lowest.

Show

Every economy in the world, ranked

The full list — sort by any column. Search to jump to a country. The PM2.5 column is colored by a continuous ramp: darker means cleaner air.

Rank	Country	PM2.5 ▲	vs world	Change, yr	Region
1	Greenland	1.6	−31.2	−0.1	Europe & Central Asia
2	Northern Mariana Islands	2.7	−30.2	−0.1	East Asia & Pacific
3	Guam	3.5	−29.4	−0.3	East Asia & Pacific
4	Micronesia	3.5	−29.4	−0.5	East Asia & Pacific
5	Kiribati	3.9	−29.0	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
6	Marshall Islands	4.1	−28.8	−0.7	East Asia & Pacific
7	American Samoa	4.3	−28.6	−0.6	East Asia & Pacific
8	Finland	4.6	−28.3	−0.6	Europe & Central Asia
9	Samoa	4.6	−28.3	−0.8	East Asia & Pacific
10	Bermuda	4.6	−28.2	−0.0	North America
11	Tonga	4.7	−28.2	−0.6	East Asia & Pacific
12	Naoero	4.8	−28.0	+0.5	East Asia & Pacific
13	Iceland	4.9	−27.9	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
14	Palau	4.9	−27.9	−0.3	East Asia & Pacific
15	Tuvalu	5.2	−27.6	−0.2	East Asia & Pacific
16	Sweden	5.3	−27.6	−0.4	Europe & Central Asia
17	Bahamas	5.3	−27.6	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
18	Norway	5.5	−27.4	−0.5	Europe & Central Asia
19	Estonia	5.9	−26.9	−0.7	Europe & Central Asia
20	Australia	6.4	−26.5	+1.1	East Asia & Pacific
21	Fiji	6.5	−26.4	−0.9	East Asia & Pacific
22	Canada	6.5	−26.3	+0.2	North America
23	U.S. Virgin Islands	6.8	−26.1	+1.1	Latin America & Caribbean
24	New Zealand	6.9	−26.0	−0.1	East Asia & Pacific
25	United States	7.0	−25.9	−0.5	North America
26	Vanuatu	7.0	−25.9	−0.3	East Asia & Pacific
27	Luxembourg	7.4	−25.4	−1.6	Europe & Central Asia
28	Denmark	7.5	−25.4	−0.7	Europe & Central Asia
29	Ireland	7.5	−25.4	−0.6	Europe & Central Asia
30	Brunei	7.6	−25.3	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
31	Puerto Rico (US)	7.8	−25.0	+1.5	Latin America & Caribbean
32	France	8.2	−24.6	−2.2	Europe & Central Asia
33	Switzerland	8.3	−24.6	−1.9	Europe & Central Asia
34	Antigua and Barbuda	8.4	−24.5	+0.5	Latin America & Caribbean
35	Belgium	8.4	−24.4	−1.6	Europe & Central Asia
36	Netherlands	8.6	−24.3	−1.1	Europe & Central Asia
37	Portugal	8.8	−24.1	−0.5	Europe & Central Asia
38	Germany	8.8	−24.1	−0.8	Europe & Central Asia
39	St. Kitts and Nevis	8.9	−24.0	+0.6	Latin America & Caribbean
40	Andorra	8.9	−24.0	−2.6	Europe & Central Asia
41	Seychelles	9.3	−23.6	−0.4	Sub-Saharan Africa
42	Cuba	9.4	−23.4	+0.0	Latin America & Caribbean
43	United Kingdom	9.5	−23.4	−0.6	Europe & Central Asia
44	Solomon Islands	9.8	−23.1	−0.1	East Asia & Pacific
45	Austria	10.0	−22.8	−0.6	Europe & Central Asia
46	Spain	10.1	−22.8	−1.9	Europe & Central Asia
47	Comoros	10.2	−22.7	−1.9	Sub-Saharan Africa
48	St. Lucia	10.4	−22.4	−0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
49	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	10.6	−22.3	−0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
50	Lithuania	10.8	−22.1	−0.3	Europe & Central Asia
51	Malta	10.8	−22.1	−0.8	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
52	Uruguay	10.8	−22.0	−0.9	Latin America & Caribbean
53	Barbados	10.9	−22.0	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
54	Grenada	11.0	−21.8	+0.0	Latin America & Caribbean
55	Maldives	11.2	−21.7	+0.8	South Asia
56	Monaco	11.4	−21.5	−1.5	Europe & Central Asia
57	Japan	11.4	−21.4	−1.0	East Asia & Pacific
58	Dominica	11.5	−21.4	+0.4	Latin America & Caribbean
59	Russia	11.6	−21.3	−0.2	Europe & Central Asia
60	Belarus	12.0	−20.9	+0.6	Europe & Central Asia
61	Timor-Leste	12.0	−20.9	−0.7	East Asia & Pacific
62	Madagascar	12.4	−20.5	−1.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
63	Slovenia	12.6	−20.3	−1.1	Europe & Central Asia
64	San Marino	12.7	−20.1	−4.0	Europe & Central Asia
65	Czechia	12.8	−20.1	−0.1	Europe & Central Asia
66	Latvia	13.0	−19.9	−0.9	Europe & Central Asia
67	Botswana	13.2	−19.6	−0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa
68	Brazil	13.4	−19.5	−1.6	Latin America & Caribbean
69	Dominican Republic	13.5	−19.4	+0.7	Latin America & Caribbean
70	Hungary	13.7	−19.2	−0.3	Europe & Central Asia
71	Slovakia	13.7	−19.2	−0.0	Europe & Central Asia
72	Mozambique	13.7	−19.1	−2.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
73	Trinidad and Tobago	13.8	−19.1	−0.7	Latin America & Caribbean
74	Mauritius	14.1	−18.8	−1.0	Sub-Saharan Africa
75	Papua New Guinea	14.1	−18.8	−2.0	East Asia & Pacific
76	Greece	14.1	−18.8	−2.2	Europe & Central Asia
77	Namibia	14.2	−18.6	−2.5	Sub-Saharan Africa
78	Italy	14.3	−18.6	−1.9	Europe & Central Asia
79	Argentina	14.3	−18.5	−1.5	Latin America & Caribbean
80	Ukraine	14.8	−18.0	+0.8	Europe & Central Asia
81	Moldova	14.9	−17.9	+0.4	Europe & Central Asia
82	Zimbabwe	15.0	−17.9	−2.4	Sub-Saharan Africa
83	Sao Tome and Principe	15.1	−17.8	+0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa
84	Panama	15.1	−17.8	−0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
85	Singapore	15.1	−17.7	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
86	Paraguay	15.3	−17.5	+0.9	Latin America & Caribbean
87	Albania	15.5	−17.4	−0.9	Europe & Central Asia
88	Suriname	15.7	−17.2	−0.4	Latin America & Caribbean
89	Croatia	15.8	−17.1	−1.1	Europe & Central Asia
90	Haiti	15.8	−17.1	+1.2	Latin America & Caribbean
91	Malaysia	15.9	−17.0	+0.5	East Asia & Pacific
92	Romania	16.0	−16.9	−0.4	Europe & Central Asia
93	Cyprus	16.1	−16.8	−5.3	Europe & Central Asia
94	Poland	16.5	−16.4	+0.6	Europe & Central Asia
95	Algeria	16.5	−16.3	−2.6	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
96	Mexico	16.6	−16.3	−0.0	Latin America & Caribbean
97	Malawi	16.7	−16.1	−3.4	Sub-Saharan Africa
98	Eswatini	16.8	−16.1	−1.7	Sub-Saharan Africa
99	Belize	16.8	−16.1	+0.7	Latin America & Caribbean
100	Guyana	16.9	−15.9	−0.6	Latin America & Caribbean
101	Costa Rica	17.7	−15.2	−0.5	Latin America & Caribbean
102	Liberia	17.9	−14.9	−0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa
103	Colombia	18.4	−14.5	−0.5	Latin America & Caribbean
104	Montenegro	18.4	−14.4	−0.2	Europe & Central Asia
105	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	18.5	−14.3	−1.5	Sub-Saharan Africa
106	Georgia	18.6	−14.3	−0.8	Europe & Central Asia
107	Ecuador	18.6	−14.3	−1.2	Latin America & Caribbean
108	Morocco	18.7	−14.2	−2.6	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
109	Tunisia	18.9	−14.0	−3.5	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
110	Venezuela	19.2	−13.7	+0.4	Latin America & Caribbean
111	Serbia	19.3	−13.5	−0.2	Europe & Central Asia
112	Cambodia	19.4	−13.4	−0.4	East Asia & Pacific
113	Kazakhstan	19.6	−13.3	+0.6	Europe & Central Asia
114	Bulgaria	19.7	−13.2	−3.1	Europe & Central Asia
115	Angola	19.9	−13.0	−2.6	Sub-Saharan Africa
116	Libya	20.0	−12.9	−3.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
117	Kyrgyzstan	20.1	−12.8	+1.4	Europe & Central Asia
118	Tanzania	20.2	−12.7	−1.7	Sub-Saharan Africa
119	Cabo Verde	20.2	−12.7	+1.9	Sub-Saharan Africa
120	Zambia	20.2	−12.6	−3.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
121	Kenya	20.3	−12.6	−0.5	Sub-Saharan Africa
122	Cote d'Ivoire	20.4	−12.5	−1.4	Sub-Saharan Africa
123	Nicaragua	20.4	−12.4	−0.4	Latin America & Caribbean
124	Indonesia	20.8	−12.0	+1.1	East Asia & Pacific
125	Jamaica	21.6	−11.2	+0.8	Latin America & Caribbean
126	North Korea	21.8	−11.1	+0.9	East Asia & Pacific
127	North Macedonia	21.8	−11.1	−0.7	Europe & Central Asia
128	South Korea	21.9	−11.0	−1.6	East Asia & Pacific
129	Israel	21.9	−11.0	−1.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
130	Philippines	22.2	−10.7	−2.0	East Asia & Pacific
131	West Bank and Gaza	22.4	−10.5	−1.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
132	Sierra Leone	22.5	−10.4	+0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa
133	Sri Lanka	22.7	−10.2	−1.4	South Asia
134	Chile	23.1	−9.8	−6.1	Latin America & Caribbean
135	Thailand	23.5	−9.4	−0.2	East Asia & Pacific
136	South Sudan	23.7	−9.2	−0.6	Sub-Saharan Africa
137	Azerbaijan	23.7	−9.2	−0.5	Europe & Central Asia
138	Ethiopia	23.8	−9.1	+0.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
139	Vietnam	24.8	−8.1	−0.7	East Asia & Pacific
140	Laos	26.0	−6.9	+0.6	East Asia & Pacific
141	Bosnia and Herzegovina	26.1	−6.8	−1.0	Europe & Central Asia
142	Türkiye	26.4	−6.5	−1.3	Europe & Central Asia
143	Lesotho	26.4	−6.4	−4.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
144	Lebanon	26.7	−6.2	−1.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
145	Guinea	27.3	−5.6	−0.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
146	South Africa	27.7	−5.2	−0.8	Sub-Saharan Africa
147	Bolivia	28.1	−4.7	−2.4	Latin America & Caribbean
148	Ghana	28.1	−4.7	−1.9	Sub-Saharan Africa
149	Armenia	28.6	−4.3	−0.8	Europe & Central Asia
150	El Salvador	29.6	−3.3	−0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
151	Guatemala	29.7	−3.2	+1.4	Latin America & Caribbean
152	Bhutan	30.1	−2.8	+4.4	South Asia
153	Honduras	30.7	−2.1	+1.1	Latin America & Caribbean
154	Peru	31.1	−1.8	−1.4	Latin America & Caribbean
155	Uganda	31.2	−1.7	−0.7	Sub-Saharan Africa
156	Turkmenistan	31.3	−1.6	−2.1	Europe & Central Asia
157	Gabon	31.3	−1.6	−0.9	Sub-Saharan Africa
158	China	32.0	−0.9	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
159	Syria	32.1	−0.8	−3.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
160	Guinea-Bissau	32.3	−0.6	+0.7	Sub-Saharan Africa
161	Jordan	32.6	−0.2	−0.7	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
162	Uzbekistan	32.8	−0.1	−0.1	Europe & Central Asia
163	Central African Republic	33.3	+0.4	+0.7	Sub-Saharan Africa
164	Tajikistan	33.4	+0.5	−1.0	Europe & Central Asia
165	Eritrea	33.7	+0.8	+0.5	Sub-Saharan Africa
166	Togo	34.3	+1.5	−1.5	Sub-Saharan Africa
167	Myanmar	35.1	+2.2	+2.2	East Asia & Pacific
168	Mali	35.5	+2.6	−1.8	Sub-Saharan Africa
169	Burundi	35.7	+2.8	−0.6	Sub-Saharan Africa
170	DR Congo	35.8	+2.9	−1.0	Sub-Saharan Africa
171	Rwanda	36.0	+3.1	−0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa
172	Congo	36.5	+3.7	−1.0	Sub-Saharan Africa
173	Burkina Faso	37.3	+4.5	−4.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
174	Sudan	37.6	+4.7	−1.4	Sub-Saharan Africa
175	Afghanistan	38.0	+5.1	−2.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
176	Gambia	38.3	+5.4	+2.1	Sub-Saharan Africa
177	Benin	39.7	+6.8	−1.8	Sub-Saharan Africa
178	Iran	40.3	+7.4	−3.6	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
179	Djibouti	40.3	+7.4	+1.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
180	Senegal	41.6	+8.8	+2.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
181	Equatorial Guinea	42.2	+9.3	−1.4	Sub-Saharan Africa
182	Mongolia	42.7	+9.8	+1.8	East Asia & Pacific
183	Chad	43.0	+10.1	+0.6	Sub-Saharan Africa
184	Egypt	43.1	+10.3	+0.9	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
185	Mauritania	46.5	+13.6	+1.5	Sub-Saharan Africa
186	Yemen	46.8	+14.0	−0.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
187	Oman	46.9	+14.0	−5.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
188	Iraq	49.5	+16.6	−10.1	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
189	Nepal	53.2	+20.3	+2.6	South Asia
190	India	54.0	+21.2	+3.4	South Asia
191	Cameroon	55.6	+22.7	−1.0	Sub-Saharan Africa
192	Bahrain	56.6	+23.7	−6.1	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
193	United Arab Emirates	57.2	+24.3	−10.5	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
194	Pakistan	58.4	+25.5	+0.5	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
195	Kuwait	62.4	+29.5	−12.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
196	Niger	65.2	+32.4	−9.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
197	Nigeria	65.7	+32.9	−4.9	Sub-Saharan Africa
198	Bangladesh	69.3	+36.4	+6.0	South Asia
199	Saudi Arabia	73.5	+40.6	−4.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
200	Qatar	107.8	+74.9	−4.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan

The complete list: 200 economies with 2023 World Bank PM2.5 data, ranked cleanest first. "vs world" is the gap from the global average; "Change" is vs 2022 — a negative value means the air got cleaner.

Five numbers worth remembering

The same dataset, squeezed into the facts people actually retell.

The cleanest air on Earth — 1.64 µg/m³ in Greenland — is 66× cleaner than the most polluted country

Greenland 1.64 vs Qatar 107.8 µg/m³ · 2023

Among large, populated countries, Finland has the cleanest air — 4.6 µg/m³, world rank #8

The very top of the list is small islands and Arctic territories

Only 14 of 200 economies meet the WHO safe limit of 5 µg/m³

World average 32.9 µg/m³ — over 6.6× the guideline

The most polluted country, Qatar, breathes 107.8 µg/m³ — 21.6× the WHO limit

The Gulf, South Asia and the Sahel carry the heaviest PM2.5 loads

106.1 µg/m³ separates the cleanest air from the most polluted — one of the widest gaps in any global ranking

PM2.5, 2023, 200 economies

What this number really means

World average PM2.5, → 2023 (µg/m³)

The world's population-weighted PM2.5 has hovered around 32.9 µg/m³ — many times the WHO's recommended 5 µg/m³. Most people on Earth breathe air the WHO considers unsafe; the cleanest countries are the exception, not the rule.

PM2.5 is fine particulate matter — soot, dust and chemical droplets under 2.5 microns across, small enough to lodge deep in the lungs and cross into the blood. It is the single air pollutant most tightly linked to early death from heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and respiratory illness, which is why it, rather than any broader "green" index, is the clearest measure of the air a population actually breathes.

That focus is also this ranking's honest limit. It measures air, not everything. The cleanest scores belong to Greenland and other small, remote or sparsely populated places with little industry or traffic — not because they run the greenest economies, but because there is little to pollute the air and plenty of wind to clear it. Among large, populated nations, the leaders are Finland, Sweden, Norway and other northern countries with cold climates, strong regulation and few dust sources.

And clean air is not the same as a clean environment. A country can have pristine air and heavy carbon emissions, water stress or biodiversity loss — or breathe polluted air while leading on climate policy. Treat this as a precise answer to one important question — "where is the air cleanest?" — not as a verdict on which countries are the most environmentally responsible overall.

Known limitations: PM2.5 exposure is modeled by combining satellite readings, atmospheric models and ground stations, so countries with few monitors carry wider uncertainty; the figure is a national population-weighted average that hides big differences between a smoggy capital and clean countryside; and it captures outdoor air only, not indoor pollution from cooking or heating, which is a major hazard in many lower-income countries. Treat every figure as a well-sourced estimate, not an exact count.

Frequently asked questions

Which country has the cleanest air?

By PM2.5 — the fine-particle pollution most tied to health — Greenland has the cleanest air on record, about 1.64 µg/m³ (2023), according to World Bank data. The very cleanest places are small, remote islands and territories. Among larger, populated countries, Finland and the Nordic nations lead, at around 4.6 µg/m³.

Does this mean these are the cleanest or greenest countries overall?

No — and this is the key caveat. This ranking measures air quality (PM2.5), not overall environmental health. A country can have clean air but high carbon emissions or water stress, and vice versa. For a broader picture that combines water, biodiversity, climate and more, see Yale's Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which uses a different composite method.

What is PM2.5 and why measure it?

PM2.5 is fine particulate matter — airborne particles under 2.5 microns wide, from sources like traffic, industry, wildfires and dust. They are small enough to reach deep into the lungs and bloodstream, making PM2.5 the air pollutant most strongly linked to premature death. It is the clearest single indicator of how clean the air people breathe actually is.

What is a safe level of PM2.5?

The World Health Organization recommends an annual average at or below 5 µg/m³. Only about 14 of the 200 economies here meet that limit; the global population-weighted average is around 32.9 µg/m³, so most people breathe air the WHO considers unsafe.

Which country has the most polluted air?

On this list, Qatar has the highest PM2.5, about 107.8 µg/m³ (2023) — many times the WHO limit. The heaviest particle pollution is concentrated in the Gulf states, South Asia and the Sahel, driven by industry, traffic, crop burning and desert dust.

Why are small islands at the top instead of famous green countries?

Because PM2.5 depends heavily on geography, not just policy. Small, remote or sparsely populated places like Greenland and Pacific islands have little industry or traffic and steady winds that clear the air, so their PM2.5 is naturally very low. Larger green-reputation countries have more people, cars and industry, so their air, while good, isn't the lowest on the planet.

How many countries are in this ranking?

This page ranks 200 economies for which the World Bank reports a 2023 PM2.5 figure — nearly every country and territory, using one consistent source so the ranking is comparable.