Facts and figures
- Two times higher — Swiss law sets the air quality limit value for Particulate Matter PM2.5 at 10µg/m3, two times higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended 5µg/m3 limit
- 70,0000 — the number of scientific studies documenting the harmful effects of air pollution on health
- 9 million — the annual number of worldwide human deaths attributed to air pollution
- 800,000 — the annual number of human deaths in Europe due to air pollution
- 98% — the percentage of Europeans breathing polluted air
- 569,000 — the number of premature deaths due to ambient air pollution, with an additional 154,000 due to indoor air pollution, in 2019 alone
- 400,000 — the annual number of Europeans who die prematurely due to Particulate Matter in the air
- 60,0000 — the number of people who die each year in the EU due to Particulate Matter from private domestic wood burners
- Several hundred billion Euros — the yearly health-related external costs caused by air pollution in Europe
- 1,276 Euros — the yearly cost of air pollution per year per Euro
- 432,517,555 Euros — the amount paid annually by the city of Zurich in health costs due to air pollution
- 182,369,253 Euros — the amount paid annually by the city of Basel in health costs due to air pollution
- 160,822,740 Euros — the amount paid annually by the city of Bern in health costs due to air pollution, according to a 2020 study by the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)
Additional information on air pollution in individual Swiss cities can be found here, curtesy of IQAir