Residents of Southeast European countries, such as North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, are the most at risk of shortened life expectancy from air pollution, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said.
These countries have the highest average number of years of life lost due to air pollution among residents aged 30 and over, the report said.
The agency said air pollution remains the biggest environmental risk for Europeans, ahead of other factors such as exposure to noise and chemicals or the risk of climate-related heatwaves.
Unsafe levels of air pollution resulted in a staggering 182,000 deaths in 2023, Euronews reported.
The EEA report said 95 percent of Europeans in urban areas were exposed to levels of air pollution “significantly” above the World Health Organization’s recommendations.
Among EU countries, Italy had the highest number of deaths from air pollution in 2023 and the highest number of years of life lost per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Poland and Germany.
The lowest relative impacts of air pollution were recorded in countries in northern and northwestern Europe, including Sweden, Estonia and Norway.
Iceland had no deaths from air pollution, while Finland recorded 34 deaths caused by long-term exposure to fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, the EEA said.
