European city air quality viewer

Cities shown in the table are ranked by default from the cleanest city to the most polluted one, based on the risk of mortality 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, assuming that the total attributable risk for exposure to several pollutants is the sum of the attributable risk per pollutant.

Air quality maps at 1x1 km2 resolution created by the European Topic Centre for Human health and the environment (ETC HE) are used for this analysis. The most updated available maps, either using validated data or preliminary Up-to-Date (UTD) data (see EEA geospatial data catalogue) are used to estimate population-weighted concentrations at city level. The mortality risk is estimated using the concentration-response functions as defined in the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for air quality, and counterfactual concentration levels equal to the WHO recommended long-term guidance levels.

The map classifies cities in ten different categories corresponding to the 10 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 to 20% lowest total mortality risk values and subsequently until   
• 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.

This product is focused on long-term exposure, as long-term exposure to air pollution causes the most serious health effects. For information on short-term exposure to air pollution, please refer to the European air quality index.

Further information on the applied methodology to establish the ranking of the cleanest to the most polluted city can be found in the ETC HE Report 2023/16 (Soares et al, 2023).

What information can I get about each city?

When clicking on any city on the map, the table shows only the selected city and ranking corresponding to that city 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 to 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, i.e. city population data as published in its 2021 version (https://www.citypopulation.de/)

When clicking on any city on the table, the map shows only the selected city.

Where can I find additional information on air pollution in the cities?

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

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

Links to city fact sheets can be found at the Urban PM_2.5 Atlas, Air Quality in European Cities, 2023 Report and from the Urban NO₂ Atlas. 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 those air pollutant levels.

A new dashboard allows browsing interactively through the spatial and sectoral contributions to PM_2.5 concentrations in cities. It also presents the estimated economic cost of premature deaths linked to PM_2.5 exposure, as calculated by the EEA, to highlight the financial impact of average PM_2.5 levels in each city.

Which are the cities I can find in the viewer?

Information is presented for all cities included in the database of cities established under the European Commission’s Urban Audit, in its 2020 edition, and also included in the EEA/ETC HE air quality maps. The Urban Audit geospatial dataset includes cities with a population of over 50,000 inhabitants. A total of 761 cities are presented. Please note that cities located in the ultramarine territories of France, Portugal, and Spain are not included, as these areas fall outside the coverage of the maps used for calculating the ranking.

In the past, cities were ranked based on average concentration levels of fine particulate matter from urban or suburban background or traffic air quality monitoring stations. This limited the number of cities considered to around 372, given the dependency on the stations. Furthermore, only fine particulate matter was used, excluding two other key pollutants and thereby preventing a more comprehensive comparison of air quality in cities.