10 Dirtiest Cities In The World 2024 [Air Pollution Ranking]

Hi there! Thanks for checking on this blog, you will be reading about the dirtiest cities in the world. It is alarming the rate of dirt and pollution produced every day as a result of increased urbanization which has led to overpopulation, also, human endeavors and advancement in industrialization have contributed immensely to the increase in environmental pollution.

These activities have proven dangerous to our ecological system. Pay close attention as we provide you with the cities that are ranked this year to be the dirtiest and most polluted cities in the world.

Coming up with the dirtiest cities in the world is a bit frustrating because dirty cities around the world go beyond the ones listed here especially putting into consideration several factors such as levels of pollution, breathable air qualities, sanitation systems, and garbage disposal practices.

Top 10 Dirtiest Cities In The World

Here are the top 10 dirtiest cities in the world as you can see below.

#1. Baku

• Country: Azerbaijan

Baku serves as the capital and commercial city of Azerbaijan. The city is located at the low coastline along the Caspian Sea. The city is known as an oil hub which has a gross adverse effect on the city. That is because the city suffers from life-threatening levels of air pollution due to oil drilling and shipping.

in addition, the city is referred to as the “Black City” going by the various activities that take place in the city such as noise and pollution from drills and refineries, contaminated air with smoke and dust. Plus, impure waters as a result of waste dumps of petrochemical by-products. In every sense, Baku has poor Air Quality and has the highest pollution ever.

Read Also: The 10 Hottest Cities In The World [Updated List]

#2. Linfen

• Country: China

The city of Linfen is located in the Shanxi Province, known to be the heart of China’s coupled with her enormous and expanding coal industry. About two-thirds of the nation’s energy is generated from this province. Linfen city has been located within this highly polluted region experiences adverse pollution effects with the air grossly contaminated.

Residents in this city claim that they choke on coal dust in the evenings, even when you dry your cloth outside, it will turn black. Sadly, Linfen is home to about 4 million people who are suffering from its environmental hazard.

#3. Dzerzhinsk

• Country: Russia

Dzerzhinsk is a city in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia making the third spot on our list of Dirtiest cities in the world. Interestingly, this city is sparsely populated with a population that is a little over 300,000 residents. However, the dirtiness of this city is attributed to its deep history of been the chemical industry for a major producer of Soviet’s weaponry arsenal all through the 20th century.

As such, it is the result of the war that has left Dzerzhinsk to be dangerously polluted with high levels of dumped toxic chemicals that proved to be highly fatal and dangerous to the health of residents in the area. It is the pollution rate that is believed to be the reason behind the low life expectancy of residents in the city.

#4. Ahvaz

• Country: Iran

Ahvaz is a city located in southwest Iran and the capital of Khuzestan province. The city is home to about 1.3 residents and also one of the dirty cities in the world. the report has it that the Ahvaz had the highest count of small airborne particles out of 1,100 urban settlements worldwide. Meaning the city atmosphere is highly polluted.

Why? Because the city is Iran’s center of the oil industry and there are several Illegal oil-mining operations spread across the city with almost no proper sewage system.

#5. Port Au Prince

• Country: Haiti

Port Au Prince is the capital city of Haiti and it is known to be among the largest cities in the world that do not have a central sewage system. Meaning there are no sewers connecting sinks, showers, and toilets to vast wastewater treatment plants.

Also, since 2010 when the country was hit by an earthquake, leaving the city to crumbles, as well as several hurricane attacks, most of the residents are still surviving living in inadequate housing facilities and suffers from poor sanitation and health care access.

#6. Dhaka

• Country: Bangladesh

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, in southern Asia is most famous as one of the Largest Cities in the World as well as the densest city in the world today, with a population of over 12 million people. However, the city made our list the sixth dirtiest city in the world.

The city produces an annual solid waste that’s over 10 million tons also, the city is lacking with proper waste management, along with poor sanitation, overpopulation, and booming industrialization all contributing to the dirtiness of this city

#7. Sukinda

• Country: India

Sukinda is a town in Jajpur district, Odisha, India considered to be one of the Dirtiest cities in the world at the seventh spot in the global ranking. The city is known for its heavy mining activities and considered the capital for chromium ore and chromite. The effect of mining activities has resulted in the city’s waterways been heavily contaminated, affecting over 50% of the city’s drinking water.

In addition, one of its major rivers, Brahmani, was discovered to contain extremely high levels of hexavalent chromium which can cause cancer and other related diseases.

#8. Antananarivo

• Country: Madagascar

Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar, in the island’s Central Highlands is known for its high tourist visitation, and now it is here because of its high dirtiness. The city is home to over 2 million residents and it is suffering from high levels of air and water pollution. This can be attributed to its poor or total lack of waste management system and escalating industrialization.

#9. Ludhiana

• Country: India

Ludhiana considered to be one of the largest center points of industrialization in India is also known as the manufacturing businesses hub for industrial products. However, these industrial activities are responsible for the city’s reputation for the worst air pollution in the entirety of India.

#10. Mexico City

• Country: Mexico

Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico and a densely populated city in the entire country. The city is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, which leads to poor circulation of quality air in the city. Also, the city suffers severely from smog due to excessive industrial emissions, as well as reoccurring natural disasters, among other reasons.

TOP 25 Most Polluted Cities In The World

You may be in the quest to have information on the top 25 most polluted cities in the world, here is the list of the cities with the highest pollution rate in the world;

1. Ghaziabad, India
2. Lahore, Pakistan
3. Delhi, India
4. Lucknow, India
5. Muzaffarnagar, India
6. Dhaka, Bangladesh
7. Antakya, Turkey
8. Hapur, India
9. Peshawar, Pakistan
10. Kampala, Uganda
11. Anyang, China
12. Patna, India
13. Shijiazhuang, China
14. Xuchang, China
15. Xinxiang, China
16. Bamako, Mali
17. Zhengzhou, China
18. Manama, Bahrain
19. Taiyuan, China
20. Chandigarh, India
21. Xian, China
22. Tianjin, China
23. Kabul, Afghanistan
24. Jinan, China
25. Dushanbe, Tajikstan

Read Also: The 10 Cleanest Cities In The World [Global Ranking]

Conclusion

We have come to the end of our discussion which includes the most polluted and dirtiest cities in the world. Raw data that were used for this ranking can be accessed via SmartFilters.