Pakistan Tops Pollution List, India Sixth
Pakistan was ranked the world’s most polluted country in 2025, while India was placed sixth, according to a new global air quality assessment based on PM2.5 levels. The findings have once again placed South Asia at the centre of the global pollution crisis, with multiple cities from India and Pakistan continuing to record dangerously high air pollution levels.
Pakistan Tops Global Pollution Rankings
The report found that Pakistan recorded the highest annual average PM2.5 concentration in the world in 2025, putting it ahead of all other countries in the global ranking. The reading was far above the level considered safe by international health standards, underlining the severity of the country’s air quality crisis.
India Ranked Sixth Most Polluted Country
India was ranked sixth in the country list, showing that it remains among the world’s most pollution-affected nations even though it did not top the rankings this time. The data also highlighted that South Asia remains the worst-affected region overall, with pollution driven by traffic, industrial emissions, construction dust, coal use and seasonal crop burning.
Indian Cities Remain Among World’s Most Polluted
While Pakistan led the country rankings, Indian cities continued to feature prominently in the global city-level pollution list. Several urban centres in India were again listed among the world’s most polluted, showing that city-level air quality remains a major concern despite some variation in the national ranking. The overall trend confirms that pollution continues to be a major public health and environmental challenge across the region.
