Premature deaths attributed to PM2.5 in the EU-27 (2005-2019), and progress towards the Zero Pollution Action Plan target on air pollution

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The figure shows the premature deaths attributed to long-term exposure to PM_2.5 in EU-27 in the period 2005-2019, the linear trend of that time series and the estimated year by which the Zero Pollution Action Plan target (by 2030, minimum 55% reduction of the premature deaths occurred in 2005) would be met if the premature deaths are reduced following that linear trend.

The continue line shows the number of premature deaths attributed to exposure to PM_2.5, in the period 2005-2019.
The dotted line shows the estimation of the evolution in the number of premature deaths attributed to PM_2.5 assuming a linear trend in the time series 2005-2019.
The horizontal line represents the Zero Pollution Action Plan (ZPAP) target for 2030: 55% of the premature deaths in 2005. The 2030 ZPAP target would be attained by 2032.

There is no dataset for the time series 2005-2019, the data have been taken from the different reports where the estimations of premature deaths attributed to PM2.5 have been published:
Air quality in Europe, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 reports; and Eionet ETC/ATNI Report 13/2019.

The number of premature deaths have been calculated according to methodology described in EEA´s briefing Assessing the risks to health from air pollution (https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/assessing-the-risks-to-health/assessing-the-risks-to-health); Eionet Report ETC/ATNI 13/2019 (https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-atni/products/etc-atni-reports/etc-atni-report-13-2019-health-risk-assessment-of-air-pollution-in-europe-methodology-description-and-2017-results); and Eionet ETC/ATNI Report 10/2021.