Tallinn among 13 European cities with cleanest air

Tallinn among 13 European cities with cleanest air. Photo: Eero Vabamägi

According to an air quality viewer published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on Thursday, the average particulate matter concentration in the air of 13 European cities, including Tallinn, is below the World Health Organization's (WHO) health-based guideline level of 5 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

These cities include four northern capitals: Reykjavik, Tallinn, Stockholm and Helsinki, the Estonian Environment Agency said in a press release.

People in Uppsala and Umeå, Sweden, and Faro, Portugal, can enjoy the cleanest city air in Europe. Three out of four Europeans live in urban areas and most of them are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution.

Compared to other countries of Europe, Estonia's levels of air pollutants are more similar to those of the Nordic countries. According to the latest official results, Estonia had some of the lowest levels of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide in Europe. Estonia's air quality is influenced, on one hand, by its coastal location and low population density, and on the other hand, by the emission reduction measures implemented in recent years.

The EEA's European city air quality viewer ranks 375 cities from the cleanest to the most polluted based on average levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The data was collected from over 500 monitoring stations at urban locations across EEA member countries over the past two calendar years, 2022 and 2023.

The European Green Deal's zero pollution action plan sets a 2030 target of reducing premature deaths caused by fine particulate matter by at least 55 percent, compared with 2005 levels, and a long-term goal of no significant health impacts by 2050. Earlier this year, the EU institutions reached an agreement on a proposal to update the ambient air quality directives with the aim to align the EU air quality standards closer to the WHO's guideline levels and help deliver on the objectives of the zero pollution action plan.

The European city air quality viewer provides an indication on the typical air quality in European cities over the past two years. The viewer focuses on long-term concentrations of particulate matter, as it is the air pollutant with the highest negative health impacts. Later this year, the EEA will publish an analysis on the impacts of air pollution on ecosystems and human health. This includes estimates on deaths and ill health that can be attributed to poor air quality.