PM2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO Interim in United States
United States: PM2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO Interim was 0.3% in 2017. ▼ Falling
PM2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO Interim in United States, 1990–2017
Source: Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Measured in % of total.
Analysis
United States recorded 0.3% for pm2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who interim in 2017.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and down 42.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, pm2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who interim in United States peaked at 0.5% in 2011 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 2016.
United States ranks 164th of 194 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
PM2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO Interim in United States, year by year
| Year | % of total | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.4% | — |
| 1995 | 0.4% | -6.3% |
| 2000 | 0.5% | +15.1% |
| 2005 | 0.5% | +3.3% |
| 2010 | 0.5% | -1.2% |
| 2011 | 0.5% | +6.5% |
| 2012 | 0.5% | -9.9% |
| 2013 | 0.4% | -4.9% |
| 2014 | 0.3% | -21.1% |
| 2015 | 0.4% | +3.3% |
| 2016 | 0.3% | -22.4% |
| 2017 | 0.3% | +0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2 |
| 2010s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 8 |
Countries ranked near United States
- 161 United Kingdom 1.2% compare
- 162 Spain 1.0% compare
- 163 Panama 0.9% compare
- 165 Netherlands 0.0% compare
- 166 American Samoa 0.0% compare
- 166 Andorra 0.0% compare
- 166 Bermuda 0.0% compare
- 166 Brunei 0.0%
- 166 Canada 0.0% compare
- 166 Denmark 0.0% compare
- 166 Estonia 0.0%
- 166 Fiji 0.0%
- 166 Finland 0.0%
- 166 Greenland 0.0% compare
- 166 Guam 0.0% compare
- 166 Iceland 0.0% compare
- 166 Ireland 0.0%
- 166 Kiribati 0.0% compare
- 166 Luxembourg 0.0% compare
- 166 Maldives 0.0%
- 166 Marshall Islands 0.0%
- 166 Micronesia (country) 0.0%
- 166 New Zealand 0.0%
- 166 Northern Mariana Islands 0.0% compare
- 166 Norway 0.0% compare
- 166 Portugal 0.0% compare
- 166 Puerto Rico 0.0%
- 166 Samoa 0.0% compare
- 166 Solomon Islands 0.0% compare
- 166 Sweden 0.0%
- 166 Tonga 0.0%
- 166 Uruguay 0.0% compare
- 166 Vanuatu 0.0% compare
More environment data for United States
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.64 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -2.16 Percentage change (2025)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.91 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.62 Percentage change (2024)
- Heating Degree Days 6,193 (2024)
- Cooling Degree Days 1,199 (2024)
- Total fisheries production 4.68 million metric tons (2024)
- Capture fisheries production 4.21 million metric tons (2024)
- Aquaculture production 467,617 metric tons (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste 9.94 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is pm2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who interim in United States?
- Pm2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who interim in United States was 0.3% in 2017, according to Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
- What is the highest pm2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who interim recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5% in 2011.
- What is the lowest pm2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who interim recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 2016.
- How does United States rank for pm2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who interim?
- United States ranks 164th out of 194 countries with data for 2017.
- Is pm2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding who interim rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 42.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), published as part of PM2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO Interim Target-3 value (% of total). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Percent of population exposed to ambient concentrations of PM2.5 that exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) Interim Target 3 (IT-3) is defined as the portion of a country’s population living in places where mean annual concentrations of PM2.5 are greater than 15 micrograms per cubic meter. The Air Quality Guideline (AQG) of 10 micrograms per cubic meter is recommended by the WHO as the lower end of the range of concentrations over which adverse health effects due to PM2.5 exposure have been observed.