Dhaka ranked first among cities with the worst air quality on the morning of June 15, 2025, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 139 at 9:45am, according to air quality monitoring data.

The capital’s air was categorized as ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups,’ posing potential health concerns for children, the elderly, and individuals with preexisting respiratory conditions.

This comes after several days of relatively ‘moderate’ air quality in the city. According to the AQI scale, a reading between 101 and 150 is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, while higher ranges indicate progressively worse conditions — from ‘unhealthy’ to ‘hazardous’.

Other cities high on the pollution list included Manama in Bahrain (AQI 132), Cairo in Egypt (127), and Doha in Qatar (127), taking the second, third, and fourth spots respectively.

The AQI measures the concentration of five key pollutants: PM10, PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and ground-level ozone. In Bangladesh, particulate matter — especially PM2.5 — is a major contributor to poor air quality.

Dhaka has struggled with air pollution for years, with conditions typically worsening during the dry winter season and improving with the arrival of the monsoon rains.

Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) attributes around seven million deaths annually to air pollution, linking it to a range of severe health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, chronic respiratory diseases, and lung cancer.