Ghana is slowly seeing early progress in air quality, according to the 2025 report by Swiss-based air quality technology firm IQAir, even as the country continues to face serious pollution challenges. The report highlights that while Ghana remains among the most polluted countries in Africa and the world, positive changes are beginning to take shape, offering hope for cleaner air in the future.
In 2025, Ghana ranked 33rd most polluted country in the world and 11th in Africa. Its annual PM2.5 level, fine particulate matter that can cause respiratory and heart diseases stands at 21.3 µg/m³, more than four times above the WHO safe limit of 5 µg/m³. Accra, the capital, also records high pollution at 21.0 µg/m³, placing millions of Ghanaians at risk. Experts warn that this invisible threat has become a growing national crisis.
Air pollution in Ghana has surged in recent years but also shows signs of progress. In 2022, the country ranked 27th globally with a PM2.5 level of 30.2 µg/m³. By 2023, Ghana moved up to 17th place, reaching 33.2 µg/m³, and in 2024, it became the 14th most polluted country in the world, reaching 35.8 µg/m³, which is seven times the WHO safe limit. Between 2022 and 2024, Ghana’s PM2.5 levels increased by 18.5%, showing a rising trend.
However, the 2025 report indicates early signs of improvement. The country’s PM2.5 level dropped to 21.3 µg/m³, reflecting a significant reduction compared with 2024, and signaling that measures to reduce pollution may be starting to work.
In 2024, Accra was the 16th most polluted capital globally, with 36.3 µg/m³, while Kumasi, featured in the report for the first time, surpassed Accra as Ghana’s most polluted city, registering 39.5 µg/m³. These figures underscore the severe health risks Ghanaians face, with WHO estimates suggesting that 28,000 deaths occur in the country each year due to air pollution—roughly one death every 19 minutes or 2,333 lives per month.
Across Africa, the 2025 report, covering 28 countries and territories, shows a wide range of air quality outcomes. Island territories like Réunion successfully met WHO guidelines with an average PM2.5 of 4.3 µg/m³, but much of continental Africa remains heavily polluted. An estimated 330 million Sub-Saharan Africans live in areas where PM2.5 exceeds 35 µg/m³.
Despite these challenges, the 2025 report highlights positive progress. Some major cities have reduced their pollution levels. For instance, Kinshasa saw a nearly 14% drop to 50.2 µg/m³, and Kigali recorded an 8% reduction, reaching 37.5 µg/m³.
Overall, the share of African cities exceeding WHO limits by five to seven times fell to 9% in 2025, down from 24% in 2024. Experts say this demonstrates that extreme pollution levels are beginning to decline.
Improvements are partly due to expanded monitoring capacity. In 2025, Africa had 463 air quality stations to allow governments and scientists to track pollution more accurately. Most monitoring networks are concentrated in urban centers such as Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Kigali, which have the region’s most comprehensive public data systems.
Nairobi leads the continent in publicly accessible air quality data. Some countries are strengthening both monitoring and regulation. The Gambia added 11 new stations, nearly doubling its capacity. Ghana introduced the Air Quality Management Regulation, establishing mandatory reporting and a centralized system to support cleaner air policies.
However, challenges remain. In South Africa, technical and maintenance issues meant that only one-third of the network was operational in mid-2025. Twelve countries continue to rely exclusively on low-cost sensors, which provide preliminary data that must be refined over time.
Globally, air pollution remains the greatest external threat to human health, surpassing smoking, alcohol, traffic injuries, and HIV/AIDS. People living in polluted areas lose an average of 2.7 years of life compared to those in cleaner environments. In 2021, air pollution caused 8.1 million deaths worldwide, roughly 22,192 deaths every day, including one child every minute.
Ghana’s worsening air quality is a serious public health emergency. Yet, the 2025 report also signals that progress is possible. Reduced PM2.5 levels in 2025 compared with previous years, coupled with new monitoring networks and emerging regulations, suggest that cleaner air can be achieved with sustained effort.
Millions of Ghanaians still breathe air four times more polluted than WHO recommends, but the early signs of improvement provide hope that the tide could turn in the coming years.
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