India ranks 6th in IQAir World Air Quality Report 2025; Loni and New Delhi remain key pollution markers

Direct fact

In the 2025 World Air Quality Report published by IQAir, India was ranked 6th among the world’s most polluted countries, with New Delhi named the most polluted capital city for the eighth consecutive year.

Key specifics

• The report analysed PM2.5 data from over 40,000 monitoring stations in 9,446 cities across 143 countries.
• Pakistan topped the list, followed by Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Loni in Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest pollution level globally with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 112.5 µg/m³.
• Only 13 countries and territories, about 9%, met the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline of 5 µg/m³.
• The world’s 25 most polluted cities were all in India, Pakistan and China, and India hosted three of the top four.

Exam lens

Environment and reports question type: rank, city, pollutant and WHO standard; remember IQAir, PM2.5, 40,000 stations, 143 countries, Loni and New Delhi.