Countries by Air Pollution Exposure

Complete ranking of 38 countries • Percentage of population • Updated 2026

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Luxembourg leads all 38 countries in Air Pollution Exposure with a value of 100% of population, while Finland ranks last at 47.85% of population. This represents a 2-fold difference between the highest and lowest values.

What Air Pollution Exposure Measures

Share of people exposed to elevated outdoor air pollution, from OECD How's Life / Well-Being.

Why This Ranking Matters

Examining Air Pollution Exposure across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.

Global Range

Values range from 47.85% of population (Finland) to 100% of population (Luxembourg) — a 2-fold difference across 38 countries.

Regional Patterns

European countries dominate this ranking, holding 16 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.

Values are tightly clustered around the median of 99.7% of population, with most countries falling within a narrow range. A few outliers at the extremes account for most of the overall spread.

Notable Outliers

The top of the ranking is competitive: Luxembourg and Slovakia are separated by only 0%, indicating that the leading positions could shift with updated data.

Continental Leaders

Europe

Luxembourg

100% of population

North America

Mexico

99.98% of population

Asia

Israel

99.94% of population

South America

Chile

99.68% of population

Oceania

Australia

98.97% of population

Highest Air Pollution Exposure

The 5 strongest Air Pollution Exposure reads.

Luxembourg100% of population Slovakia100% of population Lithuania100% of population Czechia100% of population Slovenia100% of population

Lowest Air Pollution Exposure

The 5 lowest Air Pollution Exposure reads.

Finland47.85% of population Iceland67.66% of population Norway70.57% of population Sweden73.02% of population Canada80.81% of population

Data Note

Rankings are based on the latest available data from OECD How's Life / Well-Being, covering 38 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.

Top 10 Countries

1stLuxembourg100% of population

2ndSlovakia100% of population

3rdLithuania100% of population

4thCzechia100% of population

5thSlovenia100% of population

6thHungary100% of population

7thAustria99.99% of population

8thGermany99.98% of population

9thMexico99.98% of population

10thBelgium99.96% of population

Country Ladder

1stLuxembourgEurope100% of population 2ndSlovakiaEurope100% of population 3rdLithuaniaEurope100% of population 4thCzechiaEurope100% of population 5thSloveniaEurope100% of population 6thHungaryEurope100% of population 7thAustriaEurope99.99% of population 8thGermanyEurope99.98% of population 9thMexicoNorth America99.98% of population 10thBelgiumEurope99.96% of population 11thCosta RicaNorth America99.94% of population 12thIsraelAsia99.94% of population 13thIrelandEurope99.91% of population 14thPolandEurope99.89% of population 15thLatviaEurope99.86% of population 16thColombiaNorth America99.82% of population 17thTurkeyEurope99.8% of population 18thSwitzerlandEurope99.71% of population 19thFranceEurope99.7% of population 20thGreeceEurope99.69% of population 21stChileSouth America99.68% of population 22ndNetherlandsEurope99.41% of population 23rdJapanAsia99.34% of population 24thSpainEurope99.21% of population 25thDenmarkEurope99.15% of population 26thUnited KingdomEurope99.13% of population 27thItalyEurope99.09% of population 28thSouth KoreaAsia99.08% of population 29thAustraliaOceania98.97% of population 30thPortugalEurope98.25% of population 31stNew ZealandOceania97.79% of population 32ndUnited StatesNorth America95.76% of population 33rdEstoniaEurope89.13% of population 34thCanadaNorth America80.81% of population 35thSwedenEurope73.02% of population 36thNorwayEurope70.57% of population 37thIcelandEurope67.66% of population 38thFinlandEurope47.85% of population

Air Pollution Exposure ranking for 38 countries
				Percentile
1st	Luxembourg	100% of population	Europe	100%
2nd	Slovakia	100% of population	Europe	97%
3rd	Lithuania	100% of population	Europe	95%
4th	Czechia	100% of population	Europe	92%
5th	Slovenia	100% of population	Europe	89%
6th	Hungary	100% of population	Europe	87%
7th	Austria	99.99% of population	Europe	84%
8th	Germany	99.98% of population	Europe	82%
9th	Mexico	99.98% of population	North America	79%
10th	Belgium	99.96% of population	Europe	76%
11th	Costa Rica	99.94% of population	North America	74%
12th	Israel	99.94% of population	Asia	71%
13th	Ireland	99.91% of population	Europe	68%
14th	Poland	99.89% of population	Europe	66%
15th	Latvia	99.86% of population	Europe	63%
16th	Colombia	99.82% of population	North America	61%
17th	Turkey	99.8% of population	Europe	58%
18th	Switzerland	99.71% of population	Europe	55%
19th	France	99.7% of population	Europe	53%
20th	Greece	99.69% of population	Europe	50%
21st	Chile	99.68% of population	South America	47%
22nd	Netherlands	99.41% of population	Europe	45%
23rd	Japan	99.34% of population	Asia	42%
24th	Spain	99.21% of population	Europe	39%
25th	Denmark	99.15% of population	Europe	37%
26th	United Kingdom	99.13% of population	Europe	34%
27th	Italy	99.09% of population	Europe	32%
28th	South Korea	99.08% of population	Asia	29%
29th	Australia	98.97% of population	Oceania	26%
30th	Portugal	98.25% of population	Europe	24%
31st	New Zealand	97.79% of population	Oceania	21%
32nd	United States	95.76% of population	North America	18%
33rd	Estonia	89.13% of population	Europe	16%
34th	Canada	80.81% of population	North America	13%
35th	Sweden	73.02% of population	Europe	11%
36th	Norway	70.57% of population	Europe	8%
37th	Iceland	67.66% of population	Europe	5%
38th	Finland	47.85% of population	Europe	3%

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