The European Environment Agency (EEA) reports that, despite improvements in air quality, just over 180,000 deaths in the EU in 2023 were attributable to exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) above World Health Organization (WHO) guideline levels. The assessment covers long-term exposure to PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3), and shows a continuing downward trend in health impacts over the past 19 years.
Key findings:
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Premature deaths due to PM2.5 fell by 57% between 2005 and 2023, achieving the EU zero-pollution action plan’s target of a 55% reduction.
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In 2023, 182,000 deaths could have been prevented by reducing PM2.5 to WHO guideline levels, 63,000 deaths due to ozone, and 34,000 due to NO2.
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Nearly all city dwellers (95%) are exposed to pollutant levels above WHO guidelines.
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Eastern and south-eastern European countries experience the highest health impacts.
Health and quality of life:
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Air pollution contributes to both chronic illness and premature death. Diseases affected include asthma, ischemic heart disease, and lung cancer, and emerging evidence links air pollution to dementia, which carries a significant disease burden.
Policy context:
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The revised EU Ambient Air Quality Directive, in force since last year, aligns EU standards more closely with WHO recommendations and aims to reduce health impacts further.
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Air pollution remains the top environmental health risk in Europe, particularly in urban areas, alongside other risks like noise, chemicals, and climate-related heatwaves.
The assessment covers 41 European countries, though PM2.5 estimates exclude Türkiye due to insufficient monitoring data. The EEA has been tracking deaths attributable to air pollution since 2014 using WHO guidelines, noting that health impacts from different pollutants should not be summed to avoid double-counting.
