Air quality index Nepal Fact Sheet 2022

Greenstone, M.; C. Hasenkopf and K. Lee University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (2022) C1
Nepal is the world’s third most polluted country. Air pollution shortens average Nepalese life expectancy by 4.1 years, relative to what it would be if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m3 was met.1 The highest concentrations of air pollution are observed in Nepal’s southwestern districts, which share their borders with the highly-polluted Indo-Gangetic Plain of India. Here, residents stand to lose nearly 7 years of life expectancy.