Noncommunicable diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer, cardiovascular diseases, headaches, skin disorders, and adverse birth outcomes—including low birthweight, preterm birth, or miscarriage—are all caused by air pollution, which may be turning into a new global pandemic.
In 2023 alone, air pollution is estimated to have caused around eight million deaths and the loss of 323 million healthy life years worldwide. This massive loss of healthy life years could undermine progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals; not only in terms of public health, but also economically, socially, educationally, and culturally.
According to a recent global assessment published in The State of Global Air 2025, air pollution poses an increasing burden on public health. Diseases linked to it cut across borders, seasons, and communities, affecting people from all walks of life, not to mention its profound effects on societies and future generations.
The report shows that 30 percent of the world’s population is exposed to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), while 11 percent live in places that lack national air-quality standards. The heaviest burden falls on low- and middle-income countries, which face critical challenges in controlling air quality; 90 percent of air-pollution-related deaths occur in these countries.
For example, China and India each record roughly two million deaths annually due to air pollution, while more than 200,000 deaths were recorded in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nigeria in 2023. In Indonesia, Myanmar, and Egypt, the death toll exceeded 100,000 in the same year.
After high blood pressure, air pollution is the second leading risk factor for early death. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that ambient (outdoor) air pollution caused 4.2 million premature deaths globally in 2019.
The WHO also confirms that maternal exposure to air pollution is associated with adverse birth outcomes, such as low birthweight, preterm birth, and babies small for gestational age. Growing evidence further suggests that air pollution may contribute to diabetes and affect children’s neurodevelopment.
In 2023, air pollution caused an estimated eight million deaths—one in every eight deaths. Of these, five million were attributable to fine particulate matter; 2.8 million to household (indoor) air pollution; and 470,000 to ozone.
Because dementia is among the diseases linked to air pollution, the State of Global Air 2025 report notes that in 2023 there were 626,000 deaths and 11.6 million healthy life years lost to dementia.
In summary, among air-pollution-attributable deaths, more than one in four are linked to dementia; one in two to COPD; one in four to heart disease; and one in six to diabetes.
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ground-level ozone (O₃), and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) are three key indicators in studying air quality and pollution-related disease. These indicators require countries to adopt legally binding national standards guided by WHO recommendations.
Fine particulate matter originates from vehicle emissions, household fuel use, coal-fired power plants, agricultural and industrial activities, waste burning, forest fires, and various other human and natural sources.
Ground-level ozone, meanwhile, is a highly harmful pollutant for human health and vegetation and also contributes to climate change. It is not emitted directly into the air; rather, it forms through chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight.
These precursor substances are released from burning fossil fuels in vehicles, power plants, factories, and homes, in addition to oil and gas extraction and processing operations, as well as some natural sources such as trees.
Ground-level ozone is considered an extremely damaging pollutant for the environment and climate, as it affects evaporation rates, cloud formation, rainfall patterns, and also absorbs radiation and acts as a powerful greenhouse gas.
As for nitrogen dioxide, its main sources are land and air transportation, industrial activities, and power generation plants.
According to 2023 data, the Middle East and North Africa was among the regions most exposed to nitrogen dioxide pollution globally, with an average concentration of around 9 parts per million (9 ppm).
Although the global report did not provide specific recommendations to prevent the worsening of the environmental–health crisis worldwide, health ministers of member states unanimously endorsed, during the World Health Assembly in May 2025, the WHO’s updated roadmap for a global response to the harmful health effects of air pollution. This roadmap includes an ambitious goal of reducing deaths attributable to human-caused air pollution by 50 percent.
National policies and legislation are essential pillars in mitigating the effects of pollution on communities. The World Health Organization recommends adopting legally binding national air-quality standards and integrating them into sustainable development plans. Imposing strict limits on industrial and transportation emissions—through updated vehicle inspection systems and emissions monitoring—is a central step toward achieving development goals.
Energy transition, carbon pricing, implementation of green city plans, reforestation, and improved waste management are all critical tools for addressing the global health crisis driven by accelerating environmental degradation.
