We measure exposure to ground-level sulfur dioxide using a country’s ambient ground-level concentration. The pollutant concentration is population-weighted to better capture the exposure levels in geographic areas with a higher human population density. A score of 100 indicates a country has among the lowest exposure in the world (≤5th-percentile), while a score of 0 indicates a country is among the highest (≥99th-percentile). Data for this indicator come from the Copernicus database and from Wolf et al., 2021.
SO2 exposure
| Country | Rank | EPI Score | 10-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micronesia | 1 | 100.00 | NA |
| Kiribati | 1 | 100.00 | NA |
| Tonga | 1 | 100.00 | 0.50 |
| Marshall Islands | 1 | 100.00 | NA |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 1 | 100.00 | NA |
| Solomon Islands | 6 | 99.90 | 2.30 |
| Samoa | 7 | 97.80 | 4.50 |
| Seychelles | 8 | 97.50 | 4.20 |
| Guyana | 9 | 97.00 | 1.80 |
| Maldives | 10 | 95.60 | 1.30 |
| Bolivia | 11 | 93.60 | 0.30 |
| Barbados | 12 | 89.90 | 4.20 |
| Comoros | 13 | 89.80 | 3.90 |
| Timor-Leste | 14 | 88.60 | 5.40 |
| Cabo Verde | 15 | 88.30 | 4.80 |
| Chad | 16 | 88.10 | 2.20 |
| Grenada | 17 | 86.50 | 2.40 |
| Suriname | 18 | 86.10 | -0.30 |
| Madagascar | 19 | 85.80 | 1.80 |
| Iceland | 20 | 84.50 | 16.40 |
| Mali | 21 | 83.80 | -2.60 |
| Paraguay | 21 | 83.80 | -0.90 |
| Dominica | 23 | 82.90 | 4.00 |
| Vanuatu | 24 | 82.80 | 3.80 |
| Belize | 25 | 81.70 | 1.00 |
| Mozambique | 26 | 81.40 | 0.20 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 27 | 80.60 | 5.90 |
| Central African Republic | 28 | 79.30 | 1.60 |
| Mauritius | 29 | 77.80 | 7.40 |
| Saint Lucia | 30 | 76.80 | 4.00 |
| Liberia | 31 | 76.20 | 10.00 |
| Burkina Faso | 32 | 76.00 | -2.70 |
| Sweden | 33 | 75.40 | 10.50 |
| Haiti | 34 | 75.20 | 4.40 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 35 | 73.00 | 2.80 |
| Tanzania | 36 | 72.00 | NA |
| Gabon | 37 | 71.00 | -0.10 |
| Ethiopia | 38 | 70.60 | -0.90 |
| Mauritania | 39 | 70.50 | -3.70 |
| Switzerland | 40 | 70.10 | 13.80 |
| Ecuador | 41 | 69.90 | 3.20 |
| Bahamas | 42 | 69.70 | 9.70 |
| Cote d'Ivoire | 43 | 69.20 | -0.90 |
| Niger | 43 | 69.20 | -3.30 |
| Finland | 45 | 68.60 | 7.90 |
| Argentina | 46 | 68.50 | 4.70 |
| Uruguay | 47 | 68.30 | 1.60 |
| Namibia | 48 | 67.40 | -2.70 |
| Denmark | 49 | 66.40 | 11.00 |
| Sudan | 50 | 66.20 | -8.90 |
| Luxembourg | 50 | 66.20 | 12.20 |
| Eritrea | 52 | 65.20 | -1.60 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 53 | 65.10 | -1.10 |
| Malawi | 54 | 65.00 | -0.40 |
| Sierra Leone | 55 | 64.90 | 9.90 |
| Fiji | 56 | 64.10 | 1.00 |
| Panama | 57 | 63.70 | 3.60 |
| Djibouti | 58 | 62.20 | 0.10 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 58 | 62.20 | 4.10 |
| Netherlands | 58 | 62.20 | 15.60 |
| Ghana | 61 | 62.10 | -1.90 |
| Guinea | 62 | 61.70 | 1.50 |
| Afghanistan | 63 | 61.20 | -5.60 |
| Venezuela | 64 | 60.60 | 4.10 |
| Benin | 65 | 60.40 | -2.80 |
| Togo | 66 | 60.30 | -1.70 |
| Angola | 67 | 60.20 | -5.60 |
| Germany | 68 | 60.10 | 15.40 |
| France | 68 | 60.10 | 15.40 |
| Austria | 70 | 59.90 | 10.30 |
| Ireland | 71 | 59.60 | 8.80 |
| Colombia | 72 | 57.70 | 1.60 |
| Dominican Republic | 73 | 57.30 | 6.70 |
| Turkmenistan | 74 | 56.80 | -0.20 |
| Peru | 75 | 56.60 | -3.40 |
| Latvia | 76 | 56.40 | 1.00 |
| Cuba | 77 | 56.20 | 4.60 |
| Zimbabwe | 78 | 55.00 | 1.10 |
| Brunei Darussalam | 79 | 54.50 | 2.60 |
| Honduras | 79 | 54.50 | 2.00 |
| Belgium | 81 | 52.50 | 15.30 |
| Nigeria | 82 | 52.10 | -5.30 |
| Norway | 83 | 51.60 | 16.50 |
| Lithuania | 84 | 51.50 | 1.50 |
| Costa Rica | 85 | 51.40 | 1.40 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 86 | 51.10 | -2.20 |
| Republic of Congo | 87 | 50.70 | 2.50 |
| Italy | 88 | 50.40 | 14.20 |
| Belarus | 89 | 50.10 | 2.70 |
| Myanmar | 90 | 49.20 | -4.10 |
| Kenya | 91 | 48.80 | -1.70 |
| Malta | 92 | 48.70 | 17.40 |
| United Kingdom | 93 | 48.60 | 16.80 |
| Cameroon | 94 | 47.40 | -1.80 |
| Papua New Guinea | 95 | 46.50 | 1.30 |
| Laos | 96 | 46.10 | -2.10 |
| Cambodia | 97 | 45.40 | -0.80 |
| Botswana | 98 | 45.10 | -1.10 |
| Georgia | 99 | 44.90 | -0.40 |
| Portugal | 100 | 44.50 | 12.00 |
| New Zealand | 101 | 44.40 | 2.20 |
| Slovenia | 102 | 44.20 | 13.20 |
| Spain | 103 | 44.10 | 14.50 |
| Zambia | 104 | 43.90 | 0.30 |
| Montenegro | 105 | 43.50 | 9.20 |
| Albania | 106 | 43.30 | 9.70 |
| Brazil | 107 | 42.80 | 2.20 |
| Bhutan | 108 | 42.30 | -5.70 |
| Nicaragua | 109 | 41.60 | 4.40 |
| Canada | 110 | 41.00 | 7.50 |
| Jamaica | 111 | 40.70 | 4.40 |
| Croatia | 112 | 40.40 | 10.60 |
| Czech Republic | 113 | 40.20 | 9.90 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 114 | 40.00 | 0.10 |
| Azerbaijan | 115 | 38.90 | 6.00 |
| Guatemala | 116 | 38.60 | 1.30 |
| Cyprus | 117 | 38.50 | 12.20 |
| Estonia | 118 | 37.90 | 3.20 |
| Malaysia | 118 | 37.90 | 0.50 |
| Australia | 120 | 37.80 | 9.30 |
| Romania | 121 | 37.70 | 9.20 |
| Turkey | 122 | 37.50 | 9.00 |
| Tajikistan | 123 | 36.80 | -0.10 |
| Eswatini | 123 | 36.80 | 0.40 |
| Greece | 125 | 36.50 | 9.30 |
| Slovakia | 126 | 35.70 | 10.30 |
| United States of America | 127 | 34.70 | 10.50 |
| Ukraine | 128 | 34.60 | 7.80 |
| Poland | 129 | 34.10 | 13.20 |
| Armenia | 130 | 33.50 | -2.80 |
| Japan | 130 | 33.50 | 7.30 |
| Burundi | 132 | 33.30 | -2.00 |
| Kazakhstan | 132 | 33.30 | 1.90 |
| Viet Nam | 134 | 33.20 | -0.60 |
| El Salvador | 134 | 33.20 | 1.50 |
| Russia | 136 | 31.80 | 3.00 |
| Moldova | 137 | 31.00 | 3.40 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 138 | 30.90 | 10.60 |
| Uzbekistan | 139 | 30.80 | 2.10 |
| Hungary | 140 | 30.40 | 11.00 |
| Dem. Rep. Congo | 141 | 28.80 | 0.80 |
| Gambia | 142 | 28.50 | -3.80 |
| Oman | 143 | 28.00 | -4.70 |
| Algeria | 144 | 27.60 | -14.10 |
| Nepal | 145 | 25.80 | -4.20 |
| Mongolia | 146 | 24.90 | -5.10 |
| Uganda | 147 | 24.40 | 1.70 |
| Qatar | 148 | 24.30 | -2.10 |
| Morocco | 149 | 23.60 | -6.80 |
| Serbia | 150 | 22.80 | 14.50 |
| Tunisia | 151 | 21.90 | -2.10 |
| Sri Lanka | 152 | 21.80 | -1.10 |
| Indonesia | 153 | 20.70 | NA |
| North Macedonia | 154 | 19.80 | 9.80 |
| Bangladesh | 155 | 18.40 | -5.70 |
| Thailand | 156 | 17.10 | -3.00 |
| Lesotho | 156 | 17.10 | -0.30 |
| Bulgaria | 158 | 15.40 | 8.20 |
| Senegal | 159 | 14.90 | -2.00 |
| United Arab Emirates | 160 | 14.00 | -3.50 |
| Iraq | 161 | 12.00 | -5.70 |
| Bahrain | 162 | 10.30 | -1.40 |
| Pakistan | 162 | 10.30 | -2.80 |
| Taiwan | 162 | 10.30 | -0.20 |
| Philippines | 165 | 9.80 | -0.40 |
| India | 166 | 9.50 | -3.50 |
| Lebanon | 167 | 9.40 | -0.20 |
| Singapore | 168 | 7.90 | 7.90 |
| Iran | 169 | 7.40 | -6.00 |
| Saudi Arabia | 170 | 6.40 | 0.10 |
| Egypt | 171 | 4.60 | -2.90 |
| South Africa | 172 | 3.10 | -3.20 |
| Chile | 173 | 0.10 | -0.10 |
| China | 174 | NA | NA |
| Jordan | 174 | NA | -0.40 |
| Israel | 174 | NA | NA |
| South Korea | 174 | NA | NA |
| Kuwait | 174 | NA | NA |
| Mexico | 174 | NA | NA |
| Rwanda | 174 | NA | NA |