European city air quality ranking

A total of 761 European cities are presented in the ranking. Cities are ranked according to the combined mortality risk associated with long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and ground-level ozone (O₃) over the past two calendar years (before the publication year), assuming that the overall impact is the sum of the risks associated with each individual pollutant.

The map classifies cities into ten different categories corresponding to the ten different mortality risk deciles (one decile represents a 10% grouping of cities):

• 1 for cities with the 10% lowest total mortality risk values;
• 2 for cities with the 10-20% lowest total mortality risk values;
• and so on up to 10 for cities with the 10% highest total mortality risk values.

Three filters allow users to select a specific country, a specific city or to show only the capital cities.

When clicking on any city on the map, the table shows only the selected city and its ranking, and a pop-up window appears with the following information:

• City name;
• Country the city belongs to;
• Rank, i.e. the total rank of the city compared with the other cities;
• Air quality city ranking decile that the city belongs to;
• Specific subindex for the three pollutants (PM_2.5, NO₂ and O₃);
• Population-weighted concentrations for the three pollutants (PM_2.5, NO₂ and O₃);
• City population data, primarily obtained from the Urban Audit database (Eurostat). For cities where population figures were not available, the dataset was supplemented using information from the 2021 version of the City Population website (https://www.citypopulation.de/).

This searchable tool focuses on long-term exposure, as long-term exposure to air pollution causes the most serious health effects according to the World Health Organization (WHO). For information on short-term exposure to air pollution, please refer to the European air quality index.

Methodology used to rank the cities

Air quality maps created by the European Topic Centre for Human health and the Environment (ETC-HE) at a 1x1km² resolution are used for this analysis. The most recently updated available maps, either using validated data or preliminary Up-to-Date (UTD) data (unverified) (see EEA geospatial data catalogue), are used to estimate population-weighted concentrations at city level. The mortality risk is estimated using concentration-response functions, as defined in the 2021 WHO guidelines on air quality, and counterfactual concentration levels equal to the WHO-recommended long-term guidance levels.

Further information on the approach used to assess and compare health risks linked to exposure to multiple pollutants in urban settings can be found in the ETC HE Report 2023/16.

Which cities are included in the European city air quality ranking?

The European city air quality ranking presents information for all cities included in the European Commission’s Urban Audit database (2020 edition) that are also covered by the EEA/ETC-HE air quality maps. The Urban Audit geospatial dataset includes cities with a population of over 50,000 inhabitants. In total, the European city air quality ranking includes 761 cities.

Please note that cities located in the overseas territories of France, Portugal and Spain are not included, as these areas fall outside the coverage of the maps used to calculate the ranking.

Until 2025, cities were only ranked according to their average concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) from urban or suburban background or traffic air quality monitoring stations. This limited the number of cities considered to around 372 where stations were in existence. In contrast, the ranking now uses modelled data. Furthermore, only PM_2.5 was used, excluding two other key pollutants and thereby preventing a more comprehensive comparison of air quality in cities.

Supporting Trend viewer – What is the concentration trend in your city?

In addition to the city ranking, which reflects long-term exposure and associated mortality risks based on modelled data, the EEA provides a complementary trend viewer based on measurements officially reported by countries.

This trend viewer illustrates how air quality concentrations have changed over time in individual cities, based on air quality monitoring station data. As it relies on officially reported measurement data rather than modelled maps, it provides a direct view of observed air quality trends. The concentrations shown in the viewer represent the annual average concentration calculated across all cities monitoring stations that measure the selected pollutant.

Please note: Not all cities are required to operate air quality monitoring stations for all the pollutants included in the ranking. In addition, measurements from individual monitoring stations may not be representative of the exposure of the entire city population. As the viewer is based on reported monitoring station measurements rather than map-based modelling (which the European city air quality ranking uses), it includes fewer cities than the ranking.

Together, the ranking and viewer offer complementary perspectives: the city ranking focuses on population exposure and health impacts, while the trend viewer shows how air pollutant concentrations have evolved over time in each city.

Where can you find additional information on air pollution in cities?

Statistics on air quality in cities can be found on the EEA’s Air Quality Portal, where tabular information is available on annual and monthly air quality values for the urban areas in each country and specific cities, respectively. In the same portal, a table can also be found on the urban population exposed to air pollutant concentrations (NO₂, O₃, PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) above selected EU air quality standards in EEA member countries.

Further information on air pollution in cities and its impacts on human health can be found in the table on the burden of disease of air pollution for cities and urban centres.

Links to city fact sheets can be found in the Urban PM_2.5 Atlas Air Quality in European Cities report. These fact sheets contain detailed insights into the spatial and sectoral contributions to those air pollutants in each urban area. They also highlight how targeted local and national measures can effectively reduce these air pollutant levels.

Finally, interactive dashboards allow users to explore the spatial and sectoral contributions to PM_2.5 levels and the sectoral contributions to O₃ levels in European cities. The dashboards also display the estimated economic costs of premature deaths associated with long‑term exposure to the two pollutants as well as highlighting the financial impact of average pollutant levels in each city, calculated by the EEA.