PM2.5 air pollution exposure in South Korea

People in South Korea were exposed to an average PM2.5 concentration of 21.9 µg/m³ in 2023.

Measure: Mean annual exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) Unit: Micrograms per cubic metre Data: 1990 to 2023 Source: World Bank
South Korea, 2023 21.9 Micrograms per cubic metre
Change from 2022 −6.6% 2022: 23.4 µg/m³
World, 2023 32.9 µg/m³ Official aggregate
Median of OECD (38 countries), 2023 9.7 µg/m³ Middle value of 38 countries
Position in 2023 73rd of 200 See the full ranking

PM2.5 air pollution exposure in South Korea over time

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Micrograms per cubic metre. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Mean annual exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (micrograms per cubic metre), 1999 to 2023
Period South KoreaWorld
2023 21.9 µg/m³ 32.9 µg/m³
2022 23.4 µg/m³ 32.7 µg/m³
2021 21.5 µg/m³ 33.2 µg/m³
2020 21.0 µg/m³ 32.5 µg/m³
2019 22.0 µg/m³ 33.4 µg/m³
2018 21.5 µg/m³ 34.7 µg/m³
2017 22.1 µg/m³ 35.0 µg/m³
2016 24.1 µg/m³ 35.5 µg/m³
2015 24.5 µg/m³ 36.5 µg/m³
2014 26.2 µg/m³ 35.9 µg/m³
2013 25.1 µg/m³ 36.0 µg/m³
2012 22.6 µg/m³ 36.0 µg/m³
2011 21.8 µg/m³ 37.4 µg/m³
2010 22.7 µg/m³ 36.0 µg/m³
2009 24.5 µg/m³ 36.1 µg/m³
2008 24.6 µg/m³ 36.3 µg/m³
2007 24.8 µg/m³ 36.0 µg/m³
2006 23.5 µg/m³ 35.9 µg/m³
2005 20.7 µg/m³ 36.4 µg/m³
2004 20.1 µg/m³ 36.4 µg/m³
2003 20.7 µg/m³ 36.7 µg/m³
2002 21.0 µg/m³ 36.8 µg/m³
2001 21.2 µg/m³ 36.2 µg/m³
2000 21.4 µg/m³ 36.8 µg/m³
1999 21.3 µg/m³ 36.4 µg/m³

A dash means no value was published for that period.

In short

  • That is a change of −6.6% from 23.4 µg/m³ in 2022.
  • Since 2013, when it was 25.1 µg/m³, the figure has changed by −12.6%.
  • Among the 200 countries with data for 2023, South Korea has the 73rd highest value.
  • The figure for the world in 2023 was 32.9 µg/m³.

More for South Korea

All statistics for South Korea

Source and dates

Original producer
Global Burden of Disease Study, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
Distributed by
World Bank, World Development Indicators
Dataset or series code
EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3 · dataset details · view at source
Observation period
1990 to 2023 for South Korea
Provider update
8 October 2026
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (per series metadata)
Attribution
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, original data: Global Burden of Disease Study, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation