Only seven countries met World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards last year, data showed on Tuesday, as researchers warned that the war on smog would only get harder after the United States shut down its global monitoring efforts.

World Air Quality Report also found just seven countries met WHO annual average guidelines around PM2.5 particle pollution.

Only 17% of global cities had safe air in 2024, air quality report finds - Global study finds 126 of the 138 countries analysed – 91.3 per cent – exceeded safe air quality limits

A new report has found that most of the world's population breathes in dirty air, with only 17% of cities globally meeting air pollution guidelines. The Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database,