Air Quality Life Index 2025: India Lose Its Life Hardly

The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report by the University of Chicago Energy Policy Institute claims that air pollution has become the biggest health risk in India in 2025 . Air pollution is killing the average Indian a full 3.5 years shorter than malnutrition, tobacco, or unsafe water does. Worryingly, the whole 1.4 billion population resides in areas that surpass the safe limit of PM2.5 by the World Health Organization (WHO) .

Life Expectancy Impact

• Pollution of air reduces life expectancy by 3.5 years.
• It is shortened by childhood and maternal malnutrition by 1.6 years.
• Use of tobacco reduces life by 1.5 years.
• The loss of life due to unsafe water and sanitation is only 8.4 months.
• This underscores the unfair share of ill health due to polluted air.

Regional Hotspots

• The northern part of India is the most polluted part of the world.
• The people of Delhi-NCR lose 8.2 years of life expectancy.
• Bihar (5.6 years), Haryana (5.3 years) and Uttar Pradesh (5 years) are highly affected as well.

Delhi-NCR residents lose 5 years of life even against the more relaxed standards of air quality in India.

National vs. Global Standards.

• 46 % of Indians are residing in regions that are even higher than the PM2.5 standards of India.
• Achievement of national standards may contribute 1.5 years to life expectancy.
• Such a limit could extend to 9.4 months , even in comparatively cleaner places, to meet the stricter limit of WHO of 5 ug/m3.

South Asia's Shared Burden

South Asia is the most polluted area in the world , and PM 2.5 increased 2.8 percent in 2023 , but dropped briefly in 2022. Average life expectancy is 3 years lower than in other parts of the world, with some regions in the worst locations losing up to 8 years .

Urgent Need for Action

The report emphasizes that millions of people will keep losing healthy life years unless bold policies are implemented. Key priorities include:

• Reduce the emission at the point of source.
• Enhancing air monitoring.
• Increasing the clean energy and technology.
• Creating awareness of behaviour change among the population.

Not only would health outcomes be improved, but there would be significant economic and social benefits associated with cleaner air, and air quality improvement would be one of the most pressing