15 Countries with the Cleanest Air in the World in 2018

If you are wondering which are the 15 countries with the cleanest air in the world in 2018, check out our research results.

Regardless of what your plans are, migration to another country or just a trip abroad with your family, the ‘dirty air’ is definitively something you want to avoid. Maybe you are just curious about how your country ranks on the list of the countries with the cleanest air. Nevertheless, after reading this article, you’ll know, where is the cleanest air on Earth.

So, let’s get started – what pollutes the air? Basically, there is a mix of pollutants that make the air hazardous. We can divide them into two categories – the natural pollutants and man-made pollutants. We can’t bring the pollution to zero, but we definitively need to focus on getting that numbers as lower as possible. How can the air quality affect you? Well, it affects all of us apparently. Many respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are the result of polluted air. Asthma, lung cancer, heart strokes, even death. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the quality of the air has a big impact on our health.

Unless you want to put on a gas mask whenever you leave your home, serious changes need to be done. However, we will leave that to the governments, health associations, and organizations that are constantly working on different ideas to reduce the pollution. And, when exactly we can expect the results? Apparently, right now. Scientists are developing various systems that have shown results over the years. Many countries are showing great progress, and some big cities can be considered as top destinations, once again. So, if you are wondering where to go on your next vacation, take a look at the 15 Cities with the Cleanest Air in the World and find out more about places with the cleanest air in the world in 2017. Check out the list of countries with the cleanest air in the world in 2015 to see if there were some changes since then. Also, we are sure that cleanest air in the world 2016 list wouldn’t be much different either.

As we mentioned, people are continuously trying to reduce the pollution, and based on results from the previous years; we can predict the pollution for the incoming year. We started searching for the countries with the cleanest air, but what we found couldn’t suit our needs. Some of the articles on best (and worst) countries for air pollution were our starting point. So, we checked the countries mentioned in these articles for ourselves and also added several more, according to the same criteria.

Our methodology was based on the three parameters: the median concentration of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter), death rate, and the population of a country. The high levels of PM2.5 in the air are the main reason for many diseases, and that’s why we took death rate as our next parameter. We used the air pollution-related death rate per 100,000 population in one year, so we simply had to include the population figures, since we couldn’t compare countries with millions of people and those with only several hundred thousand. How did we get the information? We visited the World Health Organization and used their last report to find the median concentration of PM2.5 and pollution-related death rate. According to WHO, over 3 million people die each year due to air pollution. Their latest report is based on accumulative numbers from the past few years, which is enough for us to predict the future quality of the air. For the countries population, we stuck to Worldometers for the latest results.

Without any more hesitations, let’s proceed to the full list of countries with the cleanest air in the world in 2018.

15. Estonia

How Estonia reached our list of countries with the cleanest air in the world in 2018? Well, its capital city, Tallinn is one of the capitals with the cleanest air in the world. However, Estonia, in general, didn’t rank that well on our list — the median concentration of PM2.5 is 8, the crude death rate is 24 per 100,000 people, and the total population is 1,309,632.

14. Japan

Japan ranks 14th on our list of countries with the cleanest air in the world in 2018. It has a different culture of living. Japanese people take care of the garbage and think of saving the environment in every aspect, so the air isn’t an exception. The median concentration of PM2.5 is 13, the crude death rate is 24 per 100,000 people, and it has a population of 127,484,450.

13.  Denmark

Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen is the second city in Europe when it comes to air quality. It is mostly due to the bicycle riding culture, so this could be your next destination. The median concentration of PM2.5 is 10, the crude death number is 20, and it has a population of 5,733,551 citizens.

12. Canada

Many cities in this country got great results for air quality, but they will need some additional improvements. Canada is fighting with the bad air and here are its results – the median PM2.5 is 7, the death rate is 25 per 100,000 capita, and it has a population of 36,624,199.

11. Norway

Some parts of Norway have very clean air, even though here we will stick to the country’s numbers in general. Next winter, maybe you should try visiting some of its sky centers. So let’s check its air – the median concentration of PM2.5 is 9, the death rate is 13 per 100,000 capita, and it has a population of 5,305,383 citizens.

10. Portugal

We are continuing our list of countries with the cleanest air in the world in 2018 with Portugal, that isn’t famous only for great beaches, but also for its several cities that rank very high for air quality. Porto is the city with the cleanest air, so this can be a good destination for your next trip. Basically, the air in Portugal is good — the median concentration of PM2.5 is 9, the death rate is 17 per 100,000 capita, and it has a population of 10,329,506.

9. Iceland

Iceland could be the right choice to go away from the crowded and polluted cities. It is a good country for a restart and relaxation, so let’s check its numbers. Iceland’s median concentration of PM2.5 is 8, and it has a death rate of 6 per 100,000 capita. With a population of 335,025.

8. Spain

There are polluted cities in Spain, but there are also places where you can enjoy clean air. Las Palmas is a typical example of a city with high-quality air and you should definitively check it out. However, Spain has to improve, as the median PM2.5 is 9 and the crude death rate is 15 per 100,000 capita. It has a population of 46,354,321.

7. Liberia

Many reports show that Liberia constantly works on improving the air quality and the results speak for themselves as this country is becoming one of the countries with the cleanest air. The median PM2.5 is 8, and the death rate is 6 per 100,000 capita, and the number of citizens is 4,931,706.

6. Finland

One of the cleanest parts of the world can be found in this country, number 6 in our list of countries with the cleanest air in the world in 2018. You may have heard about the Finnish Lapland, which is a place worth to visit. All in all, Finland rates high when we talk about air as the median concentration of PM2.5 is 7, the death rate is 6 per 100,000, and it has the population of 5,523,231.

5. USA

If you are wondering about air quality in the U.S., check out the Huffpost’s article, and you’ll see that they are very clean, but there are also cities with bad air quality. However, when we take the USA on average, its median concentration of PM2.5 is 8, and the death rate is 12 per 100,000 people. This country has the biggest population on our list (324,459,463 citizens).

4. Brunei

Brunei is a small country with low levels of PM2.5 concentration, and that makes it one of the countries with the cleanest air in the world in 2018. So, if none of the previous countries convinced you into visiting them, this might be the one. The median concentration of PM2.5 is 5, and the death rate is only 0.2 per 100,000 citizens. The population of Brunei is 428,697.

3. New Zealand

New Zealand is one of the safest, but also one of the cleanest countries on this planet. When you check its results, you will easily notice how it got to the third place — its median concentration of PM2.5 is 5, and the death rate is 0.5 per 100,000 capita. It has a population of 4,705,818.

2. Sweden

We all know that Sweden has a great living standard. Some of the latest researches are showing that Stockholm is one of the best cities for air quality, so it wouldn’t surprise you how this country got to the second place on our list of countries with the cleanest air in the world in 2018. The median concentration of PM2.5 is 6, the death rate is 0.4 per 100,000 capita, and it has a population of 9,910,701.

1. Australia

Did you know that Australia has the cleanest air in the world? Well, now you know — some parts of this country are more polluted than others, but overall, the best air can be found in this country. Whether it is Melbourne or Tasmania, you have to visit Australia at least once. Its median concentration of PM2.5 is 6, and the death rate is 0.4 per 100.000 capita. It has a population of 24,450,561.

That wraps it up for our list of countries with the cleanest air in the world in 2018.