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Environmental information systems
The indicator shows the number of annual premature deaths attributable to exposure to fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) and the related zero-pollution action plan objective for 2030. Premature deaths are derived from a health risk assessment approach based on World Health Organization Europe recommendations measuring the general impact of air pollution across a given population.
Air pollution emissions have decreased in the last two decades, resulting in better air quality, although some areas, such as the Po Valley, still face difficulties.
In terms of general trends, between 2005 and 2022, premature deaths attributable to particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) decreased by 32% in Italy, compared with a decrease of 45% across the EU.
Until 2010, the impact of air pollution decreased proportionally to the reduction in the population-weighted exposure to PM2.5, due to a decrease in emissions from energy industries and road traffic.
In 2011, PM2.5-related premature death rates increased by 20% compared with 2010, probably due to higher PM2.5 levels following the recovery from the global financial crisis, especially in the iron and steel sectors. The rate of premature deaths decreased again after 2011 because of economic constraints on industrial sectors, followed by a 2015 spike due to increased PM2.5 levels and mortality-related factors like flu and heatwaves. The 13% increase in premature deaths in 2020 was probably a result of the exceptionally high mortality rate during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the 2021 decrease was possibly linked to the temporary decrease in industrial activities and traffic, which was also due to the pandemic.
Italy’s PM2.5-related mortality in 2022 was 12 percentage points higher than the EU average and far from the – 55% EU target set for 2030.
References and footnotes
- a bISPRA, Italian Emission Inventory 1990–2022 – Informative inventory report 2024, Rome, 2024, https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/files2024/pubblicazioni/rapporti/iir_r-400_24.pdf.
- ↵ISPRA ‘Quality Dell’aria’, ISPRA website, accessed 18 June 2025, https://indicatoriambientali.isprambiente.it/it/qualita-dellaria.
- ↵Michelozzi, P., De’ Donato, F., Scortichini, M., De Sario, M., Asta, F. et al., ‘On the increase in mortality in Italy in 2015: Analysis of seasonal mortality in the 32 municipalities included in the surveillance system of daily mortality’, Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, 2016, Vol. 40, No 1, pp. 22–28, https://doi.org/10.19191/EP16.1.P022.010.