Rankings · EEA AEI 2023 · rebuilt 2026-09-01
European air quality rankings
Three leaderboards from the same live extract as Statistics: highest and lowest PM2.5 Average Exposure Indicator (AEI), plus highest modelled premature deaths from the EEA Burden of Disease series. Full country table: Countries. Not live readings and not exposure advice.
Three live leaderboards from the EEA extract: highest PM2.5 AEI (Poland at 16.0 µg/m³), lowest AEI (Ireland at 1.0 µg/m³), and highest modelled PM2.5 premature deaths (Italy, 51,000). 26 of 28 countries with an AEI sit above the WHO 2021 5 µg/m³ annual guideline. Figures are published indicators, not exposure advice.
- Lowest AEI: Ireland (1.0 µg/m³)
- Highest modelled deaths: Italy (51,000)
- 26 of 28 with AEI above WHO 5 µg/m³
Highest PM2.5 AEI (top 10)
Highest modelled PM2.5 premature deaths (top 10)
Highest PM2.5 AEI
Lowest PM2.5 AEI
| # | Country | AEI (µg/m³) | vs WHO 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ireland | 1.0 µg/m³ | 0.2× |
| 2 | Estonia | 4.6 µg/m³ | 0.9× |
| 3 | Sweden | 5.1 µg/m³ | 1.0× |
| 4 | Finland | 5.3 µg/m³ | 1.1× |
| 5 | Luxembourg | 6.7 µg/m³ | 1.3× |
| 6 | Denmark | 7.0 µg/m³ | 1.4× |
| 7 | Lithuania | 7.3 µg/m³ | 1.5× |
| 8 | Portugal | 7.5 µg/m³ | 1.5× |
| 9 | Netherlands | 8.7 µg/m³ | 1.7× |
| 10 | France | 9.3 µg/m³ | 1.9× |
Highest modelled premature deaths (PM2.5)
EEA Burden of Disease attributable estimates for 2022 under the WHO-2021-AQG scenario, modelled, not counted deaths. The United Kingdom has no published row in this series.
How to read these rankings
AEI is the three-year average of PM2.5 at urban-background stations (EEA Air Quality Status Report 2025 Table 3). Death totals are modelled attributable estimates from the EEA Burden of Disease database for 2022. Country detail pages and the full sortable table live on Countries; derivation notes on methodology.
Source: European Environment Agency Air Quality Status Report 2025 Table 3 (AEI 2023) + Burden of Disease 2024 (2022 data) · 2022/2023 AEI = 2021–2023 urban-background PM2.5. Death totals are modelled attributable estimates.