All but one of the world’s top 20 most polluted cities last year were in Asia, a new study shows. The majority of these cities – 13 – are in the world’s most populous country, India, where booming economic growth is fired largely by coal and where hundreds of millions live in traffic-clogged and congested megacities .

A recently released report by IQAir highlights India's critical air pollution situation, with 13 of the world's 20 most polluted cities in the country. Despite a 7% decrease in PM2.5 concentrations in 2024,