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Climate · Africa ranking

PM2.5 Air Pollution by African country

65.7 µg/m³Nigeria leads · 2023

Nigeria has the highest mean PM2.5 air pollution of any African country, at 65.7 µg/m³, ahead of Niger and Cameroon.

Population-weighted mean annual exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), in micrograms per cubic metre. 54 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2023.

1Nigeria65.7 µg/m³2Niger65.2 µg/m³3Cameroon55.6 µg/m³
#1 vs #547.1×Nigeria vs Seychelles
Median26.4 µg/m³Lesotho
Lowest9.3 µg/m³Seychelles

By region

regional average
West Africa35.8 µg/m³
16 countries · led by Nigeria
Central Africa34.8 µg/m³
9 countries · led by Cameroon
North Africa25.8 µg/m³
6 countries · led by Egypt
East Africa22.5 µg/m³
16 countries · led by Djibouti
Southern Africa19.1 µg/m³
7 countries · led by South Africa

Full ranking

54 of 54 countries
#CountryPM2.5 Air PollutionPeriod
1Nigeria
65.7 µg/m³2023
2Niger
65.2 µg/m³2023
3Cameroon
55.6 µg/m³2023
4Mauritania
46.5 µg/m³2023
5Egypt
43.1 µg/m³2023
6Chad
43 µg/m³2023
7Equatorial Guinea
42.2 µg/m³2023
8Senegal
41.6 µg/m³2023
9Djibouti
40.3 µg/m³2023
10Benin
39.7 µg/m³2023
11Gambia
38.3 µg/m³2023
12Sudan
37.6 µg/m³2023
13Burkina Faso
37.3 µg/m³2023
14Republic of the Congo
36.5 µg/m³2023
15Rwanda
36 µg/m³2023
16Democratic Republic of the Congo
35.8 µg/m³2023
17Burundi
35.7 µg/m³2023
18Mali
35.5 µg/m³2023
19Togo
34.3 µg/m³2023
20Eritrea
33.7 µg/m³2023
21Central African Republic
33.3 µg/m³2023
22Guinea-Bissau
32.3 µg/m³2023
23Gabon
31.3 µg/m³2023
24Uganda
31.2 µg/m³2023
25Ghana
28.1 µg/m³2023
26South Africa
27.7 µg/m³2023
27Guinea
27.3 µg/m³2023
28Lesotho
26.4 µg/m³2023
29Ethiopia
23.8 µg/m³2023
30South Sudan
23.7 µg/m³2023
31Sierra Leone
22.5 µg/m³2023
32Cote d'Ivoire
20.4 µg/m³2023
33Kenya
20.3 µg/m³2023
34Zambia
20.2 µg/m³2023
35Cabo Verde
20.2 µg/m³2023
36Tanzania
20.2 µg/m³2023
37Libya
20 µg/m³2023
38Angola
19.9 µg/m³2023
39Tunisia
18.9 µg/m³2023
40Morocco
18.7 µg/m³2023
41Somalia
18.5 µg/m³2023
42Liberia
17.9 µg/m³2023
43Eswatini
16.7 µg/m³2023
44Malawi
16.7 µg/m³2023
45Algeria
16.5 µg/m³2023
46Sao Tome and Principe
15.1 µg/m³2023
47Zimbabwe
15 µg/m³2023
48Namibia
14.2 µg/m³2023
49Mauritius
14.1 µg/m³2023
50Mozambique
13.7 µg/m³2023
51Botswana
13.2 µg/m³2023
52Madagascar
12.4 µg/m³2023
53Comoros
10.2 µg/m³2023
54Seychelles
9.3 µg/m³2023

Get this ranking via API

GET /v1/data

One call to /v1/data returns the latest PM2.5 Air Pollution figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.

curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=pm25_air_pollution_ug_per_m3&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"
Get a free API key

Cite or republish this ranking

Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2023. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.

Embed this ranking

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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).

<iframe src="https://africa-api.com/embed/air-pollution" width="100%" height="560" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:10px;max-width:640px" title="PM2.5 Air Pollution by African country — Africa API"></iframe>
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Frequently asked questions

Which African country has the highest mean PM2.5 air pollution?

Nigeria has the highest mean PM2.5 air pollution in Africa at 65.7 µg/m³ (2023), followed by Niger and Cameroon.

Which African country has the lowest mean PM2.5 air pollution?

Seychelles has the lowest mean PM2.5 air pollution of the 54 African countries with data, at 9.3 µg/m³ (2023).

How many African countries report PM2.5 Air Pollution data?

54 of 54 African countries have a PM2.5 Air Pollution figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries). Every value links to its full series with source and history.

How do I get this ranking via API?

Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=pm25_air_pollution_ug_per_m3&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.

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