Air pollution in India is still a serious problem, and the latest global data shows how bad it has become. IQAir's World Air Quality Report 2025, released on 24 March 2026, has placed Loni in Uttar Pradesh as the most polluted city in the world, with an annual average PM2.5 level of 112.5 µg/m³.
India ranks as the sixth most polluted country in the world. Five Indian cities are in the global top 10, and every one of the world's 25 most polluted cities sits in India, Pakistan or China. This article explains the full list, the PM2.5 figures and how you can check the air quality data for your own city.
Most Polluted Cities in India 2026
IQAir publishes the World Air Quality Report every year. The 2025 edition is the eighth one, and it studied data from 9,446 cities across 143 countries. The data came from more than 40,000 monitoring stations and low-cost sensors.
For India, the findings are not good. Loni, a town near Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, recorded PM2.5 levels more than 22 times the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³. That is also a rise of nearly 23 percent from the 2024 figure. Delhi stayed the most polluted capital city in the world for the eighth year in a row, with an average PM2.5 of 82.2 µg/m³.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| List Name | Most Polluted Cities in India |
| Report | IQAir World Air Quality Report 2025 |
| Released On | 24 March 2026 |
| Most Polluted City in India | Loni, Uttar Pradesh (112.5 µg/m³) |
| India's Country Rank | 6th most polluted country |
| Cities Studied | 9,446 cities in 143 countries |
| WHO PM2.5 Guideline | 5 µg/m³ |
India's Most Polluted Cities in the IQAir 2025 Report
Five Indian cities made it to the list of the ten most polluted cities in the world. Here are their PM2.5 figures from the report.
| City | State | Global Rank | Avg. PM2.5 (µg/m³) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loni | Uttar Pradesh | 1 | 112.5 |
| Byrnihat | Assam-Meghalaya border | 3 | 101.1 |
| Delhi | Delhi | 4 | 99.6 |
| Ghaziabad | Uttar Pradesh | 5 | 89.2 |
| Ula (Birnagar) | West Bengal | 10 | 86.8 |
These numbers are yearly averages, not daily readings. On many winter days, the actual PM2.5 level in these cities goes much higher.
How India Compares With the World
Pakistan was the most polluted country in 2025 with an average PM2.5 of 67.3 µg/m³, followed by Bangladesh at 66.1, Tajikistan at 57.3, Chad at 53.6 and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 50.2. India came sixth.
Only 14 percent of cities worldwide met the WHO yearly PM2.5 guideline, down from 17 percent a year earlier. In total, 130 of the 143 countries covered, which is about 91 percent, were above the safe limit. Just 13 countries and territories stayed within the guideline.
How to Check Air Quality Data for Your City
You can check the daily air quality of your city through the official Central Pollution Control Board system. The steps are simple.
STEP 1 - Open the CPCB air quality portal or the Sameer app on your phone, which shows the real-time AQI for cities across India.
STEP 2 - Select your state and then your city from the drop-down list to see the current AQI value and the main pollutant.
STEP 3 - Check the colour code shown against the AQI number. Green means good air, while red and maroon mean very poor and severe air quality.
STEP 4 - For yearly data and city-wise comparisons, you can look at the CPCB annual reports and the IQAir World Air Quality Report.
Why These Cities Stay Polluted
Most of the worst affected cities sit in the Indo-Gangetic plain. This region has a mix of problems. Vehicle smoke, construction dust, coal-based power plants and factory emissions add to the pollution load all year.
In winter, the situation gets worse. Cold air traps pollutants close to the ground, and stubble burning in nearby states adds more smoke. Cities like Delhi, Ghaziabad and Loni face this every year between October and January.
What the Government Is Doing
Under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), the central government aims to cut particulate pollution in major cities. Money has been given to many cities for better monitoring, road cleaning and public transport.
Experts say these steps help, but the results are slow. Better monitoring, stricter emission rules and a faster move to clean energy are needed to bring the numbers down.
If you want to see how Indian cities compare with the rest of the world, you can check the world's most polluted cities list. You can also look at the PMAY cities list to see which cities are covered under the urban housing scheme.
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