The European Environment Agency says no fewer than 238,000 people in the European Union died prematurely in 2020 due to exposure to airborne pollutants in spite of an improvement in air quality.
Analysis by the agency shows that air pollution is the largest environmental health risk in Europe and significantly impacts the health of the European population, particularly in urban areas, in spite of declining emissions of all key air pollutants in the EU.
The EEA’s latest estimates show that no fewer than 238,000 people died prematurely in the bloc in 2020 due to exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), with about 96 percent of the urban population exposed to levels above World Health Organisation guidelines.