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

Central African Republic ranks first with an age-standardized male air pollution mortality rate of 364.9 per 100,000, the highest among 183 countries measured in 2019. At the opposite end, Norway records 9.4 per 100,000, meaning the gap between first and last spans more than 38 times. The spread reflects stark differences in exposure to household and ambient air pollution across income levels and geographies.

Population & Health category

Ranking 2019

Values shown in per capita.

Countries by Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution, age-standardized, male (per 100,000 male population)
Rank	Country	per capita
1	Central African Republic	364.9
2	Lesotho	351.9
3	Solomon Islands	324.7
4	Kiribati	319.4
5	Mozambique	308.1
6	Vanuatu	301.8
7	Micronesia	301.6
8	Somalia	291
9	Eritrea	288.5
10	Mongolia	283.9
11	Guinea-Bissau	276.9
12	Togo	271.9
13	North Korea	270.6
14	Afghanistan	265.2
15	Guinea	263.9
16	Chad	251
17	Philippines	250.8
18	Burkina Faso	248.6
19	Eswatini	243.5
20	Sierra Leone	243.4
21	Cameroon	240.8
22	Gambia	240.7
23	Sao Tome and Principe	236.7
24	Burundi	235.8
25	DR Congo	233.1
26	Tajikistan	232.2
27	Ghana	231.5
28	Benin	227.5
29	Laos	226.3
30	Niger	225.7
31	Pakistan	225.1
31	Zimbabwe	225.1
33	Madagascar	225
34	Myanmar	224.2
35	Côte d'Ivoire	222.1
36	Zambia	217.9
37	Papua New Guinea	212.5
38	Yemen	208.9
39	Nepal	204.3
40	Uganda	201.1
41	Timor-Leste	200.8
42	Haiti	199.5
43	Djibouti	199.4
44	Cambodia	198.1
45	Malawi	197.9
46	Namibia	192.4
47	Rwanda	188.8
48	Uzbekistan	179.4
49	Botswana	176.2
50	Comoros	174.8
51	Equatorial Guinea	169.6
52	Republic of Congo	169.1
53	Mali	168.2
54	Angola	168
55	Nigeria	167.2
56	Kyrgyzstan	160.7
57	Ethiopia	160.1
58	India	159.7
59	Bangladesh	156.9
60	Sudan	156.1
61	Samoa	155.4
62	Kenya	154.9
63	South Sudan	154.2
64	Senegal	154.1
65	Fiji	153.3
66	Azerbaijan	148
67	Vietnam	147.5
68	Tanzania	146.8
69	Liberia	146
70	Montenegro	144.2
71	Bosnia and Herzegovina	135.9
72	Georgia	130.1
73	Egypt	125.5
74	Cabo Verde	124.9
75	Mauritania	121.7
76	China	121.5
77	Sri Lanka	119.2
78	Honduras	116.4
79	North Macedonia	114.9
80	Oman	113.2
81	Indonesia	111.7
82	Kazakhstan	110.4
83	Guyana	109.5
84	Ukraine	109.2
85	Iraq	107.2
86	Turkmenistan	105.7
87	Belarus	104.3
88	Guatemala	101.6
89	Syria	100.7
90	Armenia	98.3
90	Saudi Arabia	98.3
92	Nicaragua	97.9
93	Bhutan	97.7
93	Gabon	97.7
95	Russia	93.4
96	South Africa	92
97	Malaysia	89.5
98	Albania	89.3
99	Serbia	88
100	Moldova	87.3
100	Romania	87.3
102	Bulgaria	81.3
103	Bolivia	80.2
104	United Arab Emirates	78.8
105	Lebanon	76.7
106	Bahrain	74
107	Morocco	73.5
108	Qatar	73.2
109	Tonga	70
110	Paraguay	68.9
111	Tunisia	68.5
112	Suriname	65.4
113	Iran	64.2
114	Thailand	59.9
115	Kuwait	59.4
116	Libya	59.2
117	Latvia	56.5
118	Seychelles	55.7
119	Türkiye	55.1
120	Hungary	55
121	Algeria	54.7
122	Poland	53.9
123	Mexico	53.6
124	Grenada	53.1
125	Lithuania	52.8
126	El Salvador	50.5
127	Cuba	49.5
128	Belize	48
129	Dominican Republic	47.7
130	Venezuela	47.3
131	Slovakia	43.8
132	Mauritius	43.7
133	Jordan	42.5
134	Czechia	41.5
135	Croatia	40.8
136	Peru	39.9
137	Jamaica	39.6
138	Argentina	38.7
139	Maldives	37
140	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	36.4
141	Colombia	36.2
142	Brazil	35.8
143	Saint Lucia	34.5
144	Ecuador	32.9
145	Panama	32.7
146	Singapore	30.5
147	Greece	29.5
148	Trinidad and Tobago	26.2
149	Malta	26
150	South Korea	25.8
151	Brunei	23.3
152	Chile	23.1
153	Uruguay	22.8
154	Slovenia	22.5
155	Costa Rica	22.1
156	Austria	21.9
157	Cyprus	21.7
158	Antigua and Barbuda	21.2
158	Barbados	21.2
160	Germany	21.1
161	Israel	19.9
162	Belgium	19.4
163	Italy	19.2
164	Estonia	18.9
165	United States	17.5
166	United Kingdom	16.8
167	Japan	15.8
167	Luxembourg	15.8
169	Denmark	15.7
169	Ireland	15.7
171	Netherlands	15.5
172	New Zealand	14.7
173	Spain	13.9
174	Bahamas	13.4
174	France	13.4
176	Portugal	13.2
177	Switzerland	12.8
178	Australia	11.9
179	Finland	10.4
180	Canada	10.1
181	Iceland	10
182	Sweden	9.8
183	Norway	9.4

Analysis

This metric measures the number of male deaths per 100,000 male population attributable to the combined effects of household and ambient air pollution, with rates age-standardized to allow cross-country comparison. According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator SH.STA.AIRP.MA.P5), the following diseases are taken into account: acute respiratory infections (estimated for all ages); cerebrovascular diseases in adults (estimated above 25 years); ischaemic heart disease and related conditions. The unit is deaths per 100,000 male population. Data cover 183 countries for the year 2019, representing full coverage against an 80-country threshold. All 183 datapoints are classified as official-quality, and no extreme statistical outliers were identified at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. Values range from 9.4 to 364.9, a spread of nearly 3,782 percent.

The top of the ranking is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and Pacific island nations. Central African Republic leads at 364.9 (rank 1), followed by Lesotho at 351.9 (rank 2) and Solomon Islands at 324.7 (rank 3). Kiribati (319.4, rank 4) and Mozambique (308.1, rank 5) complete the top five. Pacific island states Vanuatu (301.8, rank 6) and Micronesia, Fed. Sts. (301.6, rank 7) also appear near the top, alongside Somalia (291.0, rank 8), Eritrea (288.5, rank 9), and Mongolia (283.9, rank 10). High values at the top of this ranking indicate higher male mortality attributed to air pollution exposure.

In the middle ranges, countries such as Uzbekistan (179.4, rank 48), China (121.5, rank 76), and Ukraine (109.2, rank 84) record moderate rates. A notable placement is the Philippines at rank 17 with 250.8, placing it among the highest-ranked countries globally and above many lower-income African nations. Mongolia at rank 10 with 283.9 stands out as a landlocked middle-income country ranking higher than most of sub-Saharan Africa. At the lower end of the ranking, high-income countries dominate: Canada (10.1, rank 180), Iceland (10.0, rank 181), Sweden (9.8, rank 182), and Norway (9.4, rank 183) record the lowest male mortality rates attributed to air pollution among all 183 countries.

This metric captures only deaths attributed to the joint effects of household and ambient air pollution and does not account for non-fatal health outcomes, morbidity, or economic burden. Age-standardization allows comparison across populations with different age structures, but underlying cause-of-death reporting quality varies by country, which may affect the accuracy of attributable mortality estimates in countries with weaker civil registration systems. The metric is sex-specific to males and does not represent female or total population rates. Because all 183 values are from a single year (2019), no trend over time can be inferred from this dataset alone.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SH.STA.AIRP.MA.P5, for the reference year 2019. The metric is defined as: mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution is the number of deaths attributable to the joint effects of household and ambient air pollution in a year per 100,000 population. The rates are age-standardized. Following diseases are taken into account: acute respiratory infections (estimated for all ages); cerebrovascular diseases in adults (estimated above 25 years); ischaemic heart disease and related conditions. Rates are specific to the male population. The ranking covers 183 countries, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. All 183 countries (100%) have data from within the last 7 years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality, above the 70% threshold. No extreme outliers were detected at the 3-standard-deviation level. The value range is 9.4 to 364.9, representing a 3,781.9% spread. A limitation of this metric is that cause-of-death attribution relies on modeled estimates in countries with incomplete vital registration, which may introduce uncertainty into country-level values.

Sources

World Bank