Chad tops global list of most polluted countries

Chad was ranked the world’s most polluted country in 2024 in a new report.

The Central African country recorded an annual average PM2.5 concentration — fine particulates known to be harmful to human health — more than 18 times above the World Health Organization’s guideline.

Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir, which compiled the data, found that only seven countries met the WHO benchmark: Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Estonia, Grenada, Iceland, and New Zealand.

“Africa’s air quality in 2024 remains a major public health crisis,” said the report, with five of the world’s 10 most polluted countries in the region. But data gaps are a major challenge. The continent is home to only 400 air quality monitoring stations — 0.6% of the global total: Nigerian megacity Lagos was notably absent from the report due to insufficient data.