New Delhi:The latest State of Global Air report paints a grim picture of the world's worsening air quality, warning that pollution has become the planet's second leading cause of premature death, behind only high blood pressure.

The report, released by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute (HEI) in collaboration with the University of Washington's School of Medicine and the Geneva-based NCD Alliance, highlights a disturbing rise in pollution-related diseases, including a strong and growing link between dirty air and dementia.

According to the report, air pollution was responsible for 7.9 million deaths in 2023, accounting for roughly one in eight deaths globally.

Of these, 4.9 million deaths were linked to exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5), 2.8 million were attributed to household air pollution, and nearly 470,000 were caused by ozone exposure.

The findings show that India and China each recorded more than two million deaths from air pollution in 2023, together accounting for more than half of the global total.

The report notes that 90 per cent of all air pollution-related deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries, with South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Southeast Asia bearing the heaviest burden.

Source:Ndtv