Health impacts of air pollution

Meeting the EU policy target requires a minimum reduction in premature deaths caused by air pollution of 55% by 2030, relative to the 2005 level. From 2005 to 2022, premature deaths attributed to particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM_2.5) fell by 48% in Czechia (from 13 100 premature deaths in 2005 to 6 884 in 2022) (see graph). This trend suggests that Czechia is on track to meet the target. This long-term decrease is in line with the continuing decrease in concentrations of PM_2.5. The decrease is a result of a combination of factors: good meteorological and dispersion conditions in some months of the year, and continued PM_2.5 emission reductions (25.4% between 2005 and 2022) due to measures being implemented to improve air quality (the replacement of old boilers, ongoing renewal of the vehicle fleet and the implementation of measures that target large sources of such emissions). In recent years, the annual average concentrations of PM_2.5 that were above the limit were observed mainly in the territory of the Ostrava/Karviná/Frýdek-Místek agglomeration. The limit on the annual average concentration of PM_2.5 was exceeded in 2023 in only 0.01% of the territory of Czechia, which hosts approximately 0.01% of the population. Data from 2023 and 2024 thus suggest that the annual average concentrations of PM_2.5 no longer exceed the limit value at any monitoring stations, confirming the ongoing decreasing trend in air pollution in Czechia.