The most 50 polluting cities in the world are all come from three countries of the same continent. This is evident from a new report from Greenpeace and AirVisual, a company that performs measurements of air quality. The Big culprits are India and China.

India, in particular, makes a bad turn. No less than 22 of the cities in India make the top 30, including the most polluted city in the world: Gurugram. That is one of the largest satellite cities in New Delhi, in the northern part of the country. In Gurugram the average air quality index is almost three times higher than what is considered healthy.

China

China has 5 cities in the top 30, but also 17 cities between the 30th and 50th place. The country is making progress compared to the past. According to the report, the average concentration of pollutants – the report focuses on particles with a size of PM2.5 or 2.5 micrometers (0.000 0025 meters) because they have the greatest impact on our health – declining between 2017 and 2018 with 12 percent. The capital of China – Beijing – Is even out of the top 100 cases of most polluted cities, after government efforts to control air pollution.

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Some countries in the vicinity of China see a worse evolution. Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand see their figures deteriorate sharply. In Bangkok, for example, airplanes were sent out in January due to the pollution in the air.

The Boznië and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Poland make a bad turn. Together they make the entire top 10 of most polluted cities in Europe. Apart from 6 Italian cities – Including Venice – the top 50 is exclusively made up of Eastern European cities.

If all countries are viewed as a whole, the USA, Germany, and Poland stand as ‘WHO Target’. According to the report, air pollution will cause 7 million premature deaths worldwide next year and have a huge impact on the economy. The cost would amount to 225 billion dollars (199 million euros, ed.) Of lost labor and billions of medical costs, according to the report.

For the report, the data of more than 6,000 cities and cities in the world were measured and compared. Remarkable: mainly data from Europe, Asia, and North America are available. In Africa, South America, and Russia, among other things, hardly any data on air pollution are available.