Image by Niclas Lundin on Unsplash
Residents of Uppsala and Umeå in Sweden and Faro in Portugal enjoy some of the cleanest urban air in Europe, according to the latest edition of the European City Air Quality Viewer from the European Environment Agency (EEA) released today. Three in four Europeans live in cities, most of whom are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution. Improving air quality to levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) could significantly reduce premature deaths caused by air pollution.
The EEA's European City Air Quality Viewer ranks 375 cities from cleanest to most polluted based on their average levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Data was collected from over 500 monitoring stations in urban areas of EEA member states over the past two calendar years (2022 and 2023).
The viewer shows that only 13 European cities have average particulate concentrations below the World Health Organization (WHO) health guideline level of 5 micrograms per cubic metre (5 μg/m3). These cities include four northern capital cities: Reykjavik, Tallinn, Stockholm and Helsinki.
The European Green Deal's Zero Pollution Action Plan sets out the goal of reducing premature deaths from fine particulate matter by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 2005, with the longer-term goal of eliminating serious health damage by 2050. Earlier this year, EU institutions reached agreement on a proposal to update the Air Quality Directive, with the aim of bringing EU air quality standards closer to WHO guideline levels and helping to achieve the objectives of the Zero Pollution Action Plan.
The European Cities Air Quality Viewer shows typical air quality in European cities over the past two years. The viewer focuses on long-term concentrations of PM2.5, the air pollutant most damaging to health. Later this year, the EEA will publish an analysis of the impact of air pollution on ecosystems and human health, including estimates of the number of deaths and health problems attributable to poor air quality.
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