The world's most polluted cities, ranked

227 of 2,311 measured cities in 84 countries breathed air above the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³ over the last 30 days. The worst was Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, at 78.2.

#1,448 Limburg an der Lahn 5.7 µg/m³, more polluted than 36% of 2,311
← Kinshasa 78.2 WHO 24-hour guideline
Every ranked city, one column each, worst on the left and cleanest on the right. Point at it to read a city; tap to open it.
  1. 1Kinshasalow-cost sensorsKinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo 104
  2. 2Gujranwalalow-cost sensorsPunjab, Pakistan 95
  3. 3Dera MāndiDelhi, India 94
  4. 4Blantyrelow-cost sensorsSouthern Region, Malawi 90
  5. 5JīndHaryana, India 89
  6. 6Lilongwelow-cost sensorsCentral Region, Malawi 86
  7. 7Peshawarlow-cost sensorsKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan 84
  8. 8GurugramHaryana, India 84
  9. 9Lahorelow-cost sensorsPunjab, Pakistan 84
  10. 10Yamuna NagarHaryana, India 81
  11. 11Zombalow-cost sensorsSouthern Region, Malawi 80
  12. 12Kampalalow-cost sensorsCentral Region, Uganda 77
  13. 13Multanlow-cost sensorsPunjab, Pakistan 77
  14. 14Faisalabadlow-cost sensorsPunjab, Pakistan 76
  15. 15Jammulow-cost sensorsJammu and Kashmir, India 76
  16. 16NoidaUttar Pradesh, India 72
  17. 17KaithalHaryana, India 71
  18. 18Sialkotlow-cost sensorsPunjab, Pakistan 70
  19. 19BhiwadiRajasthan, India 70
  20. 20Dhakalow-cost sensorsDhaka Division, Bangladesh 70
  21. 21Singaporelow-cost sensorsSingapore 68
  22. 22DādriUttar Pradesh, India 68
  23. 23DhāruheraHaryana, India 67
  24. 24Rahim Yar Khanlow-cost sensorsPunjab, Pakistan 66
  25. 25Saint-Louislow-cost sensorsSaint-Louis, Senegal 64
  26. 26Dubailow-cost sensorsDubai, United Arab Emirates 64
  27. 27Queenstown Estatelow-cost sensorsSingapore 64
  28. 28JalandharPunjab, India 63
  29. 29BahadurgarhHaryana, India 60
  30. 30FaridabadHaryana, India 59
  31. 30ChittoorAndhra Pradesh, India 59
  32. 32Rawalpindilow-cost sensorsPunjab, Pakistan 59
  33. 33Bahawalpurlow-cost sensorsPunjab, Pakistan 59
  34. 34Karongalow-cost sensorsNorthern Region, Malawi 58
  35. 35HāpurUttar Pradesh, India 57
  36. 36Tabananlow-cost sensorsBali, Indonesia 57
  37. 36BaddiHimachal Pradesh, India 57
  38. 38DushanbeDushanbe, Tajikistan 57
  39. 39Alipurlow-cost sensorsIslamabad, Pakistan 57
  40. 40Hararelow-cost sensorsHarare, Zimbabwe 56
  41. 41AmbālaHaryana, India 56
  42. 42AnantapurAndhra Pradesh, India 55
  43. 43DelhiDelhi, India 55
  44. 44ThānesarHaryana, India 54
  45. 45Sri GanganagarRajasthan, India 54
  46. 46SonīpatHaryana, India 54
  47. 46MuzaffarnagarUttar Pradesh, India 54
  48. 48NarelaDelhi, India 54
  49. 49Islamabadlow-cost sensorsIslamabad, Pakistan 53
  50. 50Greater NoidaUttar Pradesh, India 53
All 2,311 cities
Excellent0–50
Good51–100
Lightly polluted101–150
Moderately polluted151–200
Heavily polluted201–300
Severely polluted301+

China's Air Quality Index (HJ 633-2012), PM2.5 individual index. Show values as: µg/m³ · US AQI · India AQI · China AQI · European AQI · UK DAQI · Canada AQHI+. About the scales

Who led, day by day

Kinshasa5 days #12026-09-02: 70.1 µg/m³, #62026-09-03: 43.2 µg/m³2026-09-04: 73.1 µg/m³, #42026-09-05: 51.9 µg/m³2026-09-06: 78.5 µg/m³, #52026-09-07: 111.2 µg/m³, #12026-09-08: 138.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-09: 58.3 µg/m³2026-09-10: 70.7 µg/m³, #52026-09-11: 83.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-12: 70.9 µg/m³, #32026-09-14: 86.5 µg/m³, #32026-09-15: 102.1 µg/m³, #32026-09-16: 51.1 µg/m³2026-09-17: 56.0 µg/m³, #92026-09-18: 72.4 µg/m³, #12026-09-19: 71.9 µg/m³2026-09-20: 73.4 µg/m³2026-09-21: 71.2 µg/m³2026-09-23: 113.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-24: 151.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-25: 114.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-26: 65.6 µg/m³, #102026-09-27: 50.1 µg/m³2026-09-28: 58.2 µg/m³2026-09-30: 75.5 µg/m³, #42026-10-01: 49.9 µg/m³, #9Gurugram4 days #12026-09-02: 48.7 µg/m³2026-09-03: 46.3 µg/m³2026-09-04: 30.4 µg/m³2026-09-05: 28.9 µg/m³2026-09-06: 33.2 µg/m³2026-09-07: 45.1 µg/m³2026-09-08: 28.8 µg/m³2026-09-09: 49.7 µg/m³2026-09-10: 57.7 µg/m³2026-09-11: 39.0 µg/m³2026-09-12: 19.6 µg/m³2026-09-13: 24.3 µg/m³2026-09-14: 23.9 µg/m³2026-09-15: 32.6 µg/m³2026-09-16: 21.8 µg/m³2026-09-17: 31.4 µg/m³2026-09-18: 34.4 µg/m³2026-09-19: 181.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-20: 212.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-21: 144.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-22: 51.2 µg/m³2026-09-24: 67.3 µg/m³2026-09-25: 61.5 µg/m³2026-09-26: 86.4 µg/m³, #42026-09-27: 109.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-28: 104.0 µg/m³, #1Saint-Louis3 days #12026-09-02: 7.0 µg/m³2026-09-03: 5.7 µg/m³2026-09-04: 7.2 µg/m³2026-09-05: 24.9 µg/m³2026-09-06: 17.2 µg/m³2026-09-07: 7.4 µg/m³2026-09-08: 8.7 µg/m³2026-09-09: 145.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-12: 12.7 µg/m³2026-09-13: 38.3 µg/m³2026-09-14: 25.0 µg/m³2026-09-17: 231.9 µg/m³, #12026-09-18: 53.9 µg/m³, #92026-09-19: 26.6 µg/m³2026-09-20: 12.3 µg/m³2026-09-21: 309.7 µg/m³, #12026-09-22: 43.8 µg/m³2026-09-23: 51.0 µg/m³2026-09-24: 5.1 µg/m³2026-09-25: 6.4 µg/m³2026-09-26: 24.7 µg/m³2026-09-27: 7.3 µg/m³2026-09-28: 42.3 µg/m³2026-09-29: 8.2 µg/m³2026-09-30: 30.3 µg/m³Dera Māndi2 days #12026-09-02: 69.2 µg/m³, #72026-09-03: 88.8 µg/m³, #32026-09-04: 76.4 µg/m³, #12026-09-05: 68.1 µg/m³, #82026-09-06: 42.4 µg/m³2026-09-07: 35.9 µg/m³2026-09-08: 40.2 µg/m³2026-09-09: 55.9 µg/m³2026-09-10: 45.4 µg/m³2026-09-11: 42.8 µg/m³2026-09-12: 45.1 µg/m³2026-09-13: 47.5 µg/m³2026-09-14: 53.9 µg/m³2026-09-15: 70.8 µg/m³, #72026-09-16: 57.7 µg/m³, #102026-09-17: 74.3 µg/m³, #32026-09-18: 54.5 µg/m³, #82026-09-19: 85.1 µg/m³, #42026-09-20: 147.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-21: 102.0 µg/m³, #62026-09-22: 94.9 µg/m³, #52026-09-23: 90.5 µg/m³, #82026-09-24: 122.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-25: 158.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-26: 40.0 µg/m³2026-09-27: 44.0 µg/m³2026-09-28: 47.8 µg/m³2026-09-29: 53.4 µg/m³Blantyre2 days #12026-09-02: 105.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-03: 80.8 µg/m³, #52026-09-04: 64.4 µg/m³, #82026-09-05: 91.5 µg/m³, #22026-09-06: 119.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-07: 69.0 µg/m³, #52026-09-08: 27.9 µg/m³2026-09-09: 19.6 µg/m³2026-09-10: 34.0 µg/m³2026-09-11: 54.1 µg/m³2026-09-12: 91.4 µg/m³, #22026-09-13: 121.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-14: 116.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-15: 116.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-16: 75.3 µg/m³, #42026-09-17: 38.7 µg/m³2026-09-18: 53.8 µg/m³, #102026-09-19: 90.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-20: 61.0 µg/m³2026-09-21: 58.7 µg/m³2026-09-22: 75.0 µg/m³2026-09-23: 47.2 µg/m³2026-09-24: 70.1 µg/m³2026-09-25: 43.2 µg/m³2026-09-26: 64.2 µg/m³2026-09-27: 49.1 µg/m³2026-09-28: 60.5 µg/m³, #82026-09-29: 63.9 µg/m³, #72026-09-30: 29.6 µg/m³2026-10-01: 12.3 µg/m³Gujranwala2 days #12026-09-02: 48.3 µg/m³2026-09-03: 50.9 µg/m³2026-09-04: 45.9 µg/m³2026-09-05: 63.5 µg/m³, #102026-09-06: 51.0 µg/m³2026-09-07: 69.1 µg/m³, #42026-09-08: 80.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-09: 65.9 µg/m³, #82026-09-10: 49.4 µg/m³2026-09-11: 58.0 µg/m³, #62026-09-12: 59.6 µg/m³, #62026-09-13: 77.4 µg/m³, #22026-09-14: 46.7 µg/m³2026-09-15: 45.1 µg/m³2026-09-16: 55.2 µg/m³2026-09-17: 34.1 µg/m³2026-09-18: 46.2 µg/m³2026-09-19: 89.2 µg/m³, #32026-09-20: 87.6 µg/m³, #52026-09-21: 130.0 µg/m³, #32026-09-22: 108.5 µg/m³, #12026-09-23: 104.0 µg/m³, #32026-09-24: 96.4 µg/m³, #52026-09-25: 83.0 µg/m³, #62026-09-26: 67.8 µg/m³, #92026-09-27: 105.5 µg/m³, #22026-09-28: 53.9 µg/m³2026-09-29: 52.5 µg/m³2026-09-30: 81.0 µg/m³, #32026-10-01: 104.0 µg/m³, #1Lilongwe1 day #12026-09-02: 116.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-03: 100.0 µg/m³, #22026-09-04: 74.8 µg/m³, #32026-09-05: 68.6 µg/m³, #72026-09-06: 65.6 µg/m³, #82026-09-07: 73.3 µg/m³, #32026-09-08: 46.4 µg/m³2026-09-09: 25.8 µg/m³2026-09-10: 37.6 µg/m³2026-09-11: 47.4 µg/m³2026-09-12: 59.8 µg/m³, #52026-09-13: 58.5 µg/m³, #102026-09-14: 72.1 µg/m³, #62026-09-15: 95.2 µg/m³, #42026-09-16: 78.7 µg/m³, #22026-09-17: 61.8 µg/m³, #52026-09-18: 49.6 µg/m³2026-09-19: 61.9 µg/m³2026-09-20: 64.1 µg/m³2026-09-21: 64.1 µg/m³2026-09-22: 95.1 µg/m³, #42026-09-23: 94.7 µg/m³, #62026-09-24: 62.0 µg/m³2026-09-25: 62.1 µg/m³2026-09-26: 54.8 µg/m³2026-09-27: 41.7 µg/m³2026-09-28: 43.2 µg/m³2026-09-29: 49.5 µg/m³2026-09-30: 48.9 µg/m³2026-10-01: 26.9 µg/m³Smederevo1 day #12026-09-02: 45.2 µg/m³2026-09-03: 128.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-04: 12.2 µg/m³2026-09-05: 10.0 µg/m³2026-09-07: 13.5 µg/m³2026-09-09: 16.3 µg/m³2026-09-10: 16.7 µg/m³2026-09-11: 15.2 µg/m³2026-09-12: 13.2 µg/m³2026-09-14: 15.6 µg/m³2026-09-15: 12.6 µg/m³2026-09-16: 20.6 µg/m³2026-09-17: 20.6 µg/m³2026-09-18: 12.3 µg/m³2026-09-19: 13.3 µg/m³2026-09-21: 13.6 µg/m³2026-09-22: 7.9 µg/m³2026-09-23: 7.2 µg/m³2026-09-24: 10.1 µg/m³2026-09-25: 16.0 µg/m³2026-09-26: 25.2 µg/m³2026-09-27: 22.0 µg/m³2026-09-28: 17.3 µg/m³2026-09-29: 21.0 µg/m³2026-09-30: 17.3 µg/m³Neelankarai1 day #12026-09-02: 44.2 µg/m³2026-09-03: 18.3 µg/m³2026-09-04: 16.4 µg/m³2026-09-05: 162.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-06: 101.0 µg/m³, #32026-09-07: 48.1 µg/m³2026-09-10: 70.4 µg/m³, #62026-09-24: 20.2 µg/m³2026-09-25: 16.7 µg/m³2026-09-26: 20.6 µg/m³2026-09-27: 32.1 µg/m³2026-09-28: 30.0 µg/m³Bhāgalpur1 day #12026-09-02: 78.3 µg/m³, #52026-09-03: 63.9 µg/m³, #62026-09-04: 69.3 µg/m³, #52026-09-05: 62.4 µg/m³2026-09-06: 128.0 µg/m³, #12026-09-08: 40.7 µg/m³2026-09-09: 41.3 µg/m³2026-09-10: 70.2 µg/m³, #72026-09-13: 12.7 µg/m³2026-09-16: 10.1 µg/m³2026-09-18: 40.1 µg/m³2026-09-19: 60.4 µg/m³2026-09-20: 69.7 µg/m³2026-09-21: 19.7 µg/m³2026-09-22: 34.4 µg/m³2026-09-23: 32.3 µg/m³2026-09-26: 16.2 µg/m³Sep 2Oct 1
Every city that was the world's most polluted on at least one of the last 30 days. Filled square: #1 that day; ring: in the top 10; dot: measured but lower. Each city's own local day.

The world's air, last 30 days

2026-09-02: 1 of 2352 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-02: 4 of 2352 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-02: 37 of 2352 cities good (2%)2026-09-02: 2310 of 2352 cities excellent (98%)Sep 22026-09-03: 1 of 2356 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-03: 4 of 2356 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-03: 50 of 2356 cities good (2%)2026-09-03: 2301 of 2356 cities excellent (98%)2026-09-04: 2 of 2347 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-04: 39 of 2347 cities good (2%)2026-09-04: 2306 of 2347 cities excellent (98%)2026-09-05: 1 of 2355 cities heavily polluted (0%)2026-09-05: 3 of 2355 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-05: 35 of 2355 cities good (1%)2026-09-05: 2316 of 2355 cities excellent (98%)2026-09-06: 2 of 2144 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-06: 3 of 2144 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-06: 42 of 2144 cities good (2%)2026-09-06: 2097 of 2144 cities excellent (98%)2026-09-07: 1 of 2332 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-07: 57 of 2332 cities good (2%)2026-09-07: 2274 of 2332 cities excellent (98%)Sep 72026-09-08: 1 of 2296 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-08: 3 of 2296 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-08: 55 of 2296 cities good (2%)2026-09-08: 2237 of 2296 cities excellent (97%)2026-09-09: 1 of 2331 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-09: 2 of 2331 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-09: 59 of 2331 cities good (3%)2026-09-09: 2269 of 2331 cities excellent (97%)2026-09-10: 3 of 2277 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-10: 55 of 2277 cities good (2%)2026-09-10: 2219 of 2277 cities excellent (97%)2026-09-11: 2 of 2087 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-11: 54 of 2087 cities good (3%)2026-09-11: 2031 of 2087 cities excellent (97%)2026-09-12: 2 of 2141 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-12: 42 of 2141 cities good (2%)2026-09-12: 2097 of 2141 cities excellent (98%)2026-09-13: 1 of 1995 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-13: 1 of 1995 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-13: 52 of 1995 cities good (3%)2026-09-13: 1941 of 1995 cities excellent (97%)2026-09-14: 1 of 2148 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-14: 4 of 2148 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-14: 44 of 2148 cities good (2%)2026-09-14: 2099 of 2148 cities excellent (98%)Sep 142026-09-15: 1 of 2236 cities heavily polluted (0%)2026-09-15: 1 of 2236 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-15: 3 of 2236 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-15: 62 of 2236 cities good (3%)2026-09-15: 2169 of 2236 cities excellent (97%)2026-09-16: 4 of 2312 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-16: 63 of 2312 cities good (3%)2026-09-16: 2245 of 2312 cities excellent (97%)2026-09-17: 1 of 2312 cities heavily polluted (0%)2026-09-17: 1 of 2312 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-17: 48 of 2312 cities good (2%)2026-09-17: 2262 of 2312 cities excellent (98%)2026-09-18: 38 of 2358 cities good (2%)2026-09-18: 2320 of 2358 cities excellent (98%)2026-09-19: 1 of 2377 cities heavily polluted (0%)2026-09-19: 5 of 2377 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-19: 71 of 2377 cities good (3%)2026-09-19: 2300 of 2377 cities excellent (97%)2026-09-20: 1 of 2128 cities heavily polluted (0%)2026-09-20: 1 of 2128 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-20: 10 of 2128 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-20: 68 of 2128 cities good (3%)2026-09-20: 2048 of 2128 cities excellent (96%)2026-09-21: 1 of 2254 cities severely polluted (0%)2026-09-21: 2 of 2254 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-21: 13 of 2254 cities lightly polluted (1%)2026-09-21: 74 of 2254 cities good (3%)2026-09-21: 2164 of 2254 cities excellent (96%)Sep 212026-09-22: 16 of 2311 cities lightly polluted (1%)2026-09-22: 84 of 2311 cities good (4%)2026-09-22: 2211 of 2311 cities excellent (96%)2026-09-23: 19 of 2367 cities lightly polluted (1%)2026-09-23: 71 of 2367 cities good (3%)2026-09-23: 2277 of 2367 cities excellent (96%)2026-09-24: 1 of 2370 cities heavily polluted (0%)2026-09-24: 1 of 2370 cities moderately polluted (0%)2026-09-24: 10 of 2370 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-24: 75 of 2370 cities good (3%)2026-09-24: 2283 of 2370 cities excellent (96%)2026-09-25: 1 of 2338 cities heavily polluted (0%)2026-09-25: 7 of 2338 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-25: 51 of 2338 cities good (2%)2026-09-25: 2279 of 2338 cities excellent (97%)2026-09-26: 6 of 2359 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-26: 48 of 2359 cities good (2%)2026-09-26: 2305 of 2359 cities excellent (98%)2026-09-27: 7 of 2260 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-27: 39 of 2260 cities good (2%)2026-09-27: 2214 of 2260 cities excellent (98%)2026-09-28: 4 of 2320 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-28: 58 of 2320 cities good (3%)2026-09-28: 2258 of 2320 cities excellent (97%)Sep 282026-09-29: 5 of 2352 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-29: 67 of 2352 cities good (3%)2026-09-29: 2280 of 2352 cities excellent (97%)2026-09-30: 4 of 2212 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-09-30: 26 of 2212 cities good (1%)2026-09-30: 2182 of 2212 cities excellent (99%)2026-10-01: 3 of 1397 cities lightly polluted (0%)2026-10-01: 16 of 1397 cities good (1%)2026-10-01: 1378 of 1397 cities excellent (99%)Oct 1
Each day's ranked cities split by band, worst at the top: a taller red and purple share means a worse day for more of the world, not just one city.

Climbing fastest

Movement shows once the board is a day old.

Cleanest air

Cities with reference monitors only.

What's missing

We rank only cities whose monitor data we're allowed to reuse. The government monitoring networks of China and Turkey publish no terms that allow this, so we leave them out: most cities there are missing here, not clean. The few of their cities that appear are measured by community low-cost sensors, tagged as such. Why.

Use this board

SmogRank, most polluted cities, PM2.5, last 30 days to 2 Oct 2026, 02:00 UTC, smogrank.com/?w=30d.

Download top 10 (PNG)

You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms.

Updated 2026-10-02 02:07 UTC. Values are PM2.5 (fine particles), the median of each city's monitors, as the China AQI PM2.5 sub-index.