The Global Health Cost of PM2.5 Air Pollution : A Case for Action Beyond 2021
According to the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study, air pollution from fine particulate matter caused 6.4 million premature deaths and 93 billion days lived with illness in 2019. Over the past decade, the toll of ambient air pollution has continued to rise. Air pollution’s significant health,...
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Washington, DC: World Bank
2021
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| Online Access: | https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/455211643691938459/the-global-health-cost-of-pm2-5-air-pollution-a-case-for-action-beyond-2021 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36501 |
| Summary: | According to the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study, air pollution
from fine particulate matter caused 6.4 million premature deaths
and 93 billion days lived with illness in 2019. Over the past decade,
the toll of ambient air pollution has continued to rise. Air pollution’s
significant health, social, and economic effects compel the World Bank to
support client countries in addressing air pollution as a core development
challenge. This publication estimates that the global cost of health damages
associated with exposure to air pollution is $8.1 trillion, equivalent to
6.1 percent of global GDP. People in low- and middle-income countries are
most affected by mortality and morbidity from air pollution. The death rate
associated with air pollution is significantly higher in low-and lower-middle
income countries than in high-income countries. This publication further develops the evidence base for air-quality
management through up-to-date estimates of air pollution’s global
economic costs. The analyses presented here build on previous cost
estimates by the Bank and its partners, as well as on more comprehensive
air-quality data from monitoring stations in many cities across the world.
By providing monetary estimates of air pollution’s health damages,
this publication aims to support policy makers and decision-makers in
client countries in prioritizing air pollution amid competing development
challenges. Its findings build a robust economic case to invest scarce
budgetary resources in the design and implementation of policies and
interventions for improving air quality. Such investments will deliver
benefits for societies at large, and particularly for vulnerable groups. This
publication builds a strong case for scaling up investments for air pollution
control in low-and middle-income countries. |
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