India Fact Sheet

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the concentration of fine particulates increased by 69 percent on average across India. As a result, sustained exposure to particulate pollution now reduces the life expectancy of the typical Indian citizen by 4.3 years compared to 2.2 years in 1998. • In 1998, Delhi and the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Bihar already suffered from particulate concentrations that exceeded WHO safe levels by factors of 3 to 6 and reduced life expectancy for residents there by between 2 and 5 years. Over the ensuing two decades, pollution in these regions increased to as much as 10 times the WHO safe limit in the case of Uttar Pradesh, where air pollution levels now reduce life expectancy by 8.6 years. • Air quality in India’s capital city, Delhi, is among the most deadly in the country. Pollution concentrations there averaged 113 micrograms per cubic meter in 2016, reducing life expectancy by more than 10 years for the typical resident. • In 2016, the added life-years from compliance with the WHO guideline would raise the average life expectancy at birth from 69 to 73 years—a larger gain than from eliminating unsafe water and poor sanitation, perhaps the second greatest environmental health risk in the country.