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Climate · Africa ranking

PM2.5 Air Pollution by African country

85.1 µg/m³Niger leads · 2020

Niger has the highest mean PM2.5 air pollution of any African country, at 85.1 µg/m³ — 1.2× Mauritania's 70.8 µg/m³.

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, 2020.

1Niger85.1 µg/m³2Mauritania70.8 µg/m³3Senegal63.7 µg/m³
#1 vs #5410×Niger vs Seychelles
Median30.7 µg/m³South Sudan
Lowest8.5 µg/m³Seychelles

By region

regional average
West Africa54.9 µg/m³
16 countries · led by Niger
North Africa34.1 µg/m³
6 countries · led by Egypt
Central Africa32.9 µg/m³
9 countries · led by Chad
East Africa23.8 µg/m³
16 countries · led by Djibouti
Southern Africa21.2 µg/m³
7 countries · led by Zambia

Full ranking

54 of 54 countries
#CountryPM2.5 Air PollutionPeriod
1Niger
85.1 µg/m³2020
2Mauritania
70.8 µg/m³2020
3Senegal
63.7 µg/m³2020
4Burkina Faso
58.5 µg/m³2020
5Gambia
58.4 µg/m³2020
6Mali
56.8 µg/m³2020
7Nigeria
56.5 µg/m³2020
8Egypt
54.9 µg/m³2020
9Ghana
54.2 µg/m³2020
10Togo
51.7 µg/m³2020
11Benin
51 µg/m³2020
12Guinea-Bissau
50.2 µg/m³2020
13Cote d'Ivoire
49.5 µg/m³2020
14Chad
49.1 µg/m³2020
15Sudan
45.8 µg/m³2020
16Guinea
43.8 µg/m³2020
17Sierra Leone
43.2 µg/m³2020
18Liberia
42.4 µg/m³2020
19Cabo Verde
42.3 µg/m³2020
20Cameroon
39.8 µg/m³2020
21Djibouti
35.9 µg/m³2020
22Equatorial Guinea
35.4 µg/m³2020
23Central African Republic
34.4 µg/m³2020
24Uganda
33.8 µg/m³2020
25Libya
33 µg/m³2020
26Eritrea
32.4 µg/m³2020
27Rwanda
31.3 µg/m³2020
28South Sudan
30.7 µg/m³2020
29Gabon
30 µg/m³2020
30Burundi
29.7 µg/m³2020
31Republic of the Congo
28.6 µg/m³2020
32Sao Tome and Principe
27.3 µg/m³2020
33Ethiopia
27.3 µg/m³2020
34Democratic Republic of the Congo
26.6 µg/m³2020
35Algeria
25.6 µg/m³2020
36Angola
25.1 µg/m³2020
37Tanzania
25.1 µg/m³2020
38Somalia
24.5 µg/m³2020
39Kenya
24.4 µg/m³2020
40Zambia
24.3 µg/m³2020
41Tunisia
24.2 µg/m³2020
42South Africa
23.8 µg/m³2020
43Malawi
23.7 µg/m³2020
44Lesotho
23.4 µg/m³2020
45Morocco
21.3 µg/m³2020
46Mozambique
20.1 µg/m³2020
47Namibia
20 µg/m³2020
48Zimbabwe
19.5 µg/m³2020
49Botswana
18.9 µg/m³2020
50Eswatini
18.8 µg/m³2020
51Madagascar
12.8 µg/m³2020
52Comoros
11.9 µg/m³2020
53Mauritius
9.2 µg/m³2020
54Seychelles
8.5 µg/m³2020

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"
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Cite or republish this ranking

Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2020. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.

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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?

Niger has the highest mean PM2.5 air pollution in Africa at 85.1 µg/m³ (2020), followed by Mauritania and Senegal.

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 8.5 µg/m³ (2020).

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

54 of 54 African countries have a recent PM2.5 Air Pollution figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's 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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