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This briefing explores environmental health inequalities by comparing exposure to air pollution (specifically PM2.5) of the population living in the poorest regions of the EU with exposure in the richest regions, as measured using gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (adjusted for purchasing power). While focusing only on PM2.5 gives a very limited picture overall, it is highly relevant to health and can serve as a proxy to illustrate existing inequalities while data coverage of other environmental risks becomes sufficient enough.

Key messages

Air pollution is the greatest environmental risk to health across Europe and the only one that can currently be comprehensively assessed for the entire EU in terms of regional inequalities.

Between 2007 and 2022, concentrations of particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5μm or less (PM2.5) — the most hazardous of the common air pollutants — fell on average in most regions of Europe.

However, PM2.5 levels have been consistently higher by around one-third in the poorest regions compared with the richest ones. This disparity has not decreased significantly over time.

Key policies

The Ambient Air Quality Directives set out EU air quality standards for 12 air pollutants.

The National Emission reduction Commitments (NEC) Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/2284) sets out national emission reduction commitments for five main air pollutants that have a significant negative impact on human health and the environment.

Clean air is closely linked to several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG3 – Good health and well-being.

Various other EU laws regulate air pollutant emisisons from specific sources and sectors including energy, transport, agriculture, industry and waste.

Trends/developments show a mixed picture

Between 2007 and 2022, air quality improved in both the richest and the poorest quintiles of the EU-27’s NUTS3 regions. However, regions in the richest quintile had lower PM2.5 levels to begin with (around 15 micrograms per cubic metre of air (µg/m3) in 2007) than those in the poorest quintile (19.5µg/m3 in 2007). While the overall situation improved for regions at all income levels, on average the relative difference between them did not decrease in a statistically significant way; the average pollutant concentrations remained higher by about a third in the poorest regions compared with the wealthiest ones. Thus, there is no indication that this type of inequality has improved over time.

Outlook (10-15 years)

Trends/developments expected to show a mixed picture

There are not yet enough data to support solid projections for air pollution concentrations or GDP per capita going forward at the NUTS3 regional level. As such, no reasonable prediction can be made for the inequalities explored in this briefing, based on the existing evidence. So far, however, there has been no significant progress in reducing the environmental inequalities associated with air pollution. On that basis and in a context where there is no explicit environmental equality policy target, it seems unlikely that the EU will make significant progress in reducing environmental inequalities related to air pollution, at least in the short term.

Prospects of meeting policy targets 2030/2050

2030 No specific policy targets

2050 No specific policy targets

Robustness

PM2.5 has been shown to be a robust indicator of risk associated with exposure to PM from diverse sources, as well as of overall health risk from air pollution at the population level. Likewise, GDP per capita at purchasing power standard (PPS) is considered a strong indicator of average income. It is important to note that this analysis does not imply direct causality, though evidence supports a correlation between poverty and being exposed to air pollution. The analysis is part of a proxy headline indicator on environmental inequalities designed to help monitor progress towards the goals set out in the 8th Environment Action Programme (8th EAP).

Charts/maps

Figure 1. Population-weighted concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the richest and poorest (as measured by GDP per capita, PPS) NUTS3 regions in the EU-27, 2007-2022

Further information

1References

  1. WHO, 2021, WHO global air quality guidelines. Particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240034228) accessed 6 May 2025.
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  2. Lim, S. S., et al., 2012, ‘A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010’, Lancet 380(9859), pp. 2224-2260 (DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61766-8). https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)61766-8/fulltext accessed 22/09/2025
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  3. Fairburn, J., et al., 2019, ‘Social Inequalities in Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution: A Systematic Review in the WHO European Region’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16(17), p. 3127 (DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16173127). https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/17/3127 accessed 22/09/2025
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  4. Rentschler, J. and Leonova, N., 2023, ‘Global air pollution exposure and poverty’, Nature Communications 14(1), p. 4432 (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39797-4). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-39797-4 accessed 22/09/2025
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  5. EC, 2022, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the monitoring framework for the 8th Environment Action Programme: Measuring progress towards the attainment of the Programme’s 2030 and 2050 priority objectives (COM (2022) 357 final). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2022%3A357%3AFIN accessed 22/09/2025
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