Countries by Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution, age-standardized, female (per 100,000 female population)

Afghanistan ranks first with a female air pollution mortality rate of 265 per 100,000 female population, the highest among all 183 countries measured. Finland sits at the opposite end with a rate of 5.1. The gap of nearly 260 points between these two countries illustrates the wide variation in exposure and health outcomes tied to household and ambient air pollution across the globe.

Population & Health category

Ranking 2019

Values shown in per capita.

Countries by Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution, age-standardized, female (per 100,000 female population)
Rank	Country	per capita
1	Afghanistan	265
2	Central African Republic	257.8
3	Lesotho	242.2
4	Solomon Islands	238.6
5	Sierra Leone	235.1
6	Guinea	220.9
7	Sao Tome and Principe	216.6
8	Vanuatu	216.3
9	Haiti	211.6
10	Micronesia	208.2
11	Chad	206.6
12	Niger	202.1
13	Gambia	201.3
14	Guinea-Bissau	195.9
15	Eritrea	193.4
16	Madagascar	193.3
17	Kiribati	191.3
18	DR Congo	188.8
19	Somalia	188.6
20	Burundi	181
21	Togo	180.9
22	Benin	180.5
23	Tajikistan	179.4
24	Cameroon	178
25	North Korea	176.4
26	Mozambique	175.2
27	Timor-Leste	171.6
28	Republic of Congo	169.8
29	Laos	169
30	Papua New Guinea	167.7
31	Burkina Faso	167.4
32	Yemen	166.8
33	Philippines	166.2
34	Mali	165.9
35	Equatorial Guinea	164.5
36	Zimbabwe	164.2
37	Mongolia	163.4
38	Nigeria	162.9
39	Ghana	159.9
40	Liberia	157.7
41	Pakistan	157.5
42	Djibouti	157.2
43	Nepal	156
44	Myanmar	155.4
45	Comoros	155.2
46	Côte d'Ivoire	148.2
47	Rwanda	147.7
48	Zambia	141.5
49	Senegal	140.4
50	Cambodia	139.4
51	Sudan	135.4
51	Uganda	135.4
53	Samoa	134.5
54	Mauritania	133.1
55	Bangladesh	130.5
56	Uzbekistan	129.7
57	Ethiopia	126.9
58	Angola	121.4
59	India	119.9
60	South Sudan	117.3
61	Eswatini	116.9
62	Botswana	115.6
63	Kenya	114.2
64	Tanzania	113.8
65	Malawi	112.9
66	Namibia	109.3
67	Honduras	109.2
68	Qatar	106.8
69	Azerbaijan	106.5
70	Kyrgyzstan	101.9
71	Bosnia and Herzegovina	95.3
72	Albania	94.2
73	Oman	94.1
74	Montenegro	91.5
75	Bhutan	90.2
76	Fiji	88.6
77	Egypt	87.9
78	Syria	87.7
79	Guyana	82.6
80	Indonesia	82.4
81	Guatemala	82.3
82	Saudi Arabia	80.4
83	North Macedonia	78.7
84	Iraq	75.2
85	Bolivia	74.3
85	Nicaragua	74.3
85	Turkmenistan	74.3
88	China	73.5
89	Vietnam	71.6
90	Cabo Verde	70.7
91	Sri Lanka	70.6
92	Georgia	66.3
93	Kazakhstan	65.3
94	Malaysia	63.4
95	South Africa	61.7
96	Gabon	61.5
97	Morocco	60.3
98	Bahrain	60
99	Ukraine	59.1
100	Serbia	57.4
101	Armenia	57.3
102	Moldova	55.4
103	Iran	52.3
104	Romania	52.1
105	United Arab Emirates	50.3
106	Russia	49.6
107	Libya	49.3
108	Belarus	49.2
109	Bulgaria	48.1
110	Tunisia	45.4
111	Algeria	45
112	Paraguay	43.1
113	Grenada	41.9
114	Lebanon	41.5
115	Suriname	39.7
116	Mexico	37.2
116	Türkiye	37.2
118	Tonga	36.8
119	Peru	35.9
120	Thailand	35.5
121	Dominican Republic	35.4
122	Cuba	35.1
123	Jordan	34.7
124	Belize	33.8
125	Hungary	33
126	El Salvador	32.9
127	Jamaica	32.4
128	Seychelles	32
128	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	32
130	Poland	30.9
131	Venezuela	30.3
132	Latvia	29.5
133	Lithuania	29.4
134	Colombia	27.4
135	Mauritius	27.1
136	Maldives	26.3
137	Czechia	25.3
138	Croatia	24
139	Ecuador	23.9
140	Brazil	23.5
141	Argentina	23
142	Kuwait	22.7
143	Panama	22.5
144	Slovakia	21.4
145	Saint Lucia	21.3
146	Antigua and Barbuda	17.6
147	Greece	17.2
148	Singapore	16.8
149	Barbados	16.7
150	Malta	16.6
151	Brunei	15.8
152	Slovenia	15.2
153	Trinidad and Tobago	14.4
154	Costa Rica	13.9
155	Austria	13.8
155	Chile	13.8
157	South Korea	13.6
158	Belgium	11.9
159	Italy	11.6
160	Uruguay	11.5
161	United States	11.3
162	Israel	11.1
162	Netherlands	11.1
164	Cyprus	10.6
165	United Kingdom	10.5
166	Denmark	10.4
167	Ireland	10.1
168	New Zealand	10
169	Germany	9.6
169	Luxembourg	9.6
171	Estonia	8.7
172	Japan	8.4
173	Switzerland	8.3
174	Bahamas	8
175	Australia	7.9
176	Portugal	7.4
177	France	7.2
178	Spain	7
179	Iceland	6.5
179	Sweden	6.5
181	Norway	6.4
182	Canada	6.3
183	Finland	5.1

Analysis

This metric measures the age-standardized mortality rate attributed to the joint effects of household and ambient air pollution, expressed per 100,000 female population. According to the source definition, it counts 'the number of deaths attributable to the joint effects of household and ambient air pollution in a year per 100,000 population,' with rates that are age-standardized. The following diseases are taken into account: acute respiratory infections (estimated for all ages); cerebrovascular diseases in adults (estimated above 25 years); and ischaemic heart disease and related conditions. Data come from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SH.STA.AIRP.FE.P5, for the reference year 2019. Coverage is strong: all 183 countries in the dataset have data from within the last seven years, 100% of data points are classified as official quality, and no extreme outliers were detected at the three standard deviation threshold.

The ten highest-ranked countries by this metric are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Afghanistan leads at 265 per 100,000, followed by Central African Republic at 257.8 and Lesotho at 242.2. Solomon Islands (238.6), Sierra Leone (235.1), Guinea (220.9), Sao Tome and Principe (216.6), Vanuatu (216.3), Haiti (211.6), and Micronesia, Fed. Sts. (208.2) round out the top ten. These countries are predominantly low-income nations where reliance on solid fuels for cooking and heating is common, though the data itself does not specify the source of exposure. Tajikistan (rank 23, 179.4) and North Korea (rank 25, 176.4) are notable non-African entries in the upper tier, as is the Philippines (rank 33, 166.2).

In the middle of the ranking, countries such as China (rank 88, 73.5), Vietnam (rank 89, 71.6), and Sri Lanka (rank 91, 70.6) sit well above the lower-income high-income divide but well below the most affected nations. Qatar ranks 68th at 106.8 and Bahrain ranks 98th at 60.0, placing these high-income Gulf states considerably higher than might be expected given their wealth levels. Honduras (rank 67, 109.2) ranks higher than several lower-income countries in Eastern Europe, such as Ukraine (rank 99, 59.1) and Romania (rank 104, 52.1). Among high-income countries, South Korea (rank 157, 13.6) ranks notably worse than Japan (rank 172, 8.4), despite similar geographic proximity and development levels.

Several limitations apply to this metric. The indicator covers only three disease categories and may not capture all pollution-related mortality pathways. Age-standardization allows cross-country comparison but can obscure differences in population age structure that affect absolute burden. The data year is 2019, predating any changes in energy use or pollution levels that may have occurred subsequently. Because the metric focuses exclusively on females, it cannot be used to assess overall national burden without reference to the parallel male indicator. Reporting reliability may vary across lower-income countries where cause-of-death data depends on modeling rather than direct registration. The zero-volatility figure across years suggests these estimates may rely on modeled rather than annually measured inputs, which limits the ability to track short-term changes.

Methodology

The metric is the age-standardized mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution among females, per 100,000 female population. The source definition states it counts 'the number of deaths attributable to the joint effects of household and ambient air pollution in a year per 100,000 population,' with rates that are age-standardized. Diseases included are: acute respiratory infections (estimated for all ages); cerebrovascular diseases in adults (estimated above 25 years); and ischaemic heart disease and related conditions, as specified in the source note. Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SH.STA.AIRP.FE.P5, reference year 2019. The dataset covers 183 countries, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. All 183 countries (100%) have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of data points are classified as official quality. No extreme outliers were identified at the three standard deviation threshold. The value range spans from 5.1 (Finland) to 265.0 (Afghanistan), a spread of 5,096%. Year-over-year volatility averages 0.0%, indicating these estimates are stable across time and likely derived from modeled rather than annually surveyed data, which is a relevant caveat for interpreting trends.

Sources

World Bank