South Asia air pollution fell in 2022, but remains major killer: report

New report shows surprising air quality improvement in South Asia, driving global pollution decline in 2022.

A surprising improvement in air quality in South Asia in 2022 drove a decline in global pollution, with favourable weather a likely factor, a new report said Wednesday.

But the region continues to breathe the world's most polluted air, with its residents losing more than 3.5 years of life expectancy on average, the annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) warned.

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And globally, most countries have either no pollution standards or are failing to meet what they have set, subjecting their citizens to air quality that causes a broad range of health problems.

For two decades, air pollution has increased annually in South Asia, but satellite data for 2022 — the most recent year available — showed a surprise 18% fall.

“The declines were recorded in every country in the region apart from Sri Lanka,” according to the report, produced by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC).

"While it is difficult to conclusively determine what reduced P.M. 2.5 levels across South Asia, it is safe to posit that favourable meteorological conditions may have played a part," the report said, referring to tiny particulates that can travel deep into the body.