Central Asia’s Air Pollution Crisis Deepened Sharply in 2025
- Tajikistan ranked third worst globally for air quality in 2025, while Uzbekistan placed 10th.
- Pollution levels increased across all Central Asian states, with Tajikistan posting the biggest rise.
- Only Azerbaijan showed slight improvement in the Caucasus, while global air quality also worsened overall.
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are among the top 10 countries in the world with the poorest air quality, according to the findings published by a Swiss research firm. More broadly, Central Asia experienced a sharp increase in pollution in 2025.
According to IQAir’s World Air Quality Report for 2025, the air in Tajikistan contained an average of 57.3 micrograms of PM2.5 particles per cubic meter (µg/m³), an amount 11.5 times higher than the World Health Organization’s guidelines for acceptable air quality. Tajikistan’s general air quality ranked as the third worst in the world behind Pakistan and Bangladesh. The 2025 survey measured air quality in 143 countries around the globe.
Uzbekistan ranked 10th in the 2025 survey with a PM2.5 concentration exceeding WHO guidelines by 7.6 times. Kyrgyzstan had the 19th-worst air quality, and Kazakhstan ranked 29th. Turkmenistan, which ranked 26th in 2024, was dropped from the latest list due to a lack of reliable data.
All Central Asian states experienced significant year-on-year increases in pollution. Tajikistan had the largest increase, registering 57.3 PM2.5/µg/m³ last year, compared to 46.3/µg/m³ in 2024. Uzbekistan had the smallest increase, with 31.4 PM2.5/µg/m³ recorded in 2024 and 38.1 PM2.5/µg/m³ last year.
PM2.5 is defined as fine particulate aerosol particles measuring up to 2.5 microns in diameter. PM2.5 are produced by vehicle exhaust, heavy industrial processes, power generation, agriculture, construction, and coal and wood burning. Natural sources of PM2.5 include dust storms, forest fires and volcanic eruptions.
In the Caucasus, Azerbaijan was the only state to show slight improvement in air quality. Accordingly, it moved down in the 2025 IQAir ranking to 59th, after placing 49th the prior year. Armenia (24th) had the worst air quality in the Caucasus in 2025, registering 26.9 PM2.5/µg/m³. Georgia placed 56th in the 2025 list.
The survey found that air quality declined around the globe. “Wildfires, bolstered by climate change, played a primary role in degrading global air quality in 2025,” the report stated. “Record emissions from Europe and Canada contributed to a global release of approximately 1,380 megatons of carbon from biomass burning.”
According to IQAir, only 14 percent of cities surveyed met or exceeded WHO standards for acceptable air quality. The 2024 survey showed 17 percent of cities met or exceeded those standards. In compiling the 2025 report, IQAir drew on data collected in 9,446 cities in 143 countries, regions, and territories.
The 25 most polluted cities in 2025 were concentrated in three countries: Pakistan, India and China. However, Karaganda, Kazakhstan, was 26th on the list, and Ferghana, Uzbekistan, was 30th.
By Eurasianet
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