Pollution increased slightly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in 2023, where residents could gain 1.2 years of life expectancy if particulate concentrations were permanently reduced to meet the WHO guideline. In Qatar, the region’s most polluted country, an average resident could live 3.1 years longer, while in Saudi Arabia, the second most polluted country, residents stand to gain 2 years of life expectancy, and in Iraq, the third most polluted, residents could gain 1.8 years by breathing air that meets the WHO guideline.
Despite having lower average particulate pollution than Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, Egypt faces the highest health burden in the region due to its large population. In 2023, the particulate pollution level in Egypt was more than three times the WHO guideline. As a result, an average resident of Egypt could live 1.3 years longer if pollution levels were brought down to meet the WHO guideline. In the city-governorate of Cairo, the capital of Egypt and the largest megacity in the Middle East and North Africa, an average resident could gain 1.7 years of life expectancy by breathing air that meets the WHO guideline.
While particulate pollution is among the top five external threats to life expectancy in each of these countries, it is the greatest external threat in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the impact of particulate pollution is 4.5 and 1.9 times higher than that of tobacco, and 6.6 and 2 times higher than that of transport injuries, respectively.