Over 30,000 deaths in Iran attributed to air pollution in 2023

The head of Iran’s Air Health and Climate Change Department says that the cost of deaths in the country in 2023 due to particulate matter (PM 2.5) was estimated at $12 billion.

Abbas Shahsavani told IRNA news agency that air pollution is the second leading cause of death globally after hypertension.

In 2023, the cleanest cities in Iran were Shahroud, Sanandaj, and Urmia.

Zabol and Iranshahr were the most polluted cities, with major cities like Tehran, Isfahan, and Mashhad also facing high levels of air pollutants. The capital Tehran only had 12 clean days.

The Health Ministry’s study found 30,692 deaths attributed to air pollution in 2023, with 6,939 of them in Tehran. PM 2.5 accounted for 12.6% of these deaths.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) related to PM 2.5 accounted for 819 deaths in the 57 monitored cities in Iran, according to Shahsavani.

Despite this, Iran’s air pollution-related death rate is lower than the global average.

The WHO reports that over 99% of the global population lives in areas with PM 2.5 levels exceeding guidelines.

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