Pakistan’s two major cities, Karachi and Lahore, are on the world’s 10 most polluted cities list, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching an unhealthy level on Tuesday.
According to data collected from the IQ Air website on Tuesday at 11:42 am, Delhi (India) leads the list with an AQI of 220 (very unhealthy), followed by Kolkata, India, with an AQI of 215 (very unhealthy).
Cairo (Egypt) ranked third with an AQI of 184 (unhealthy), closely followed by Kathmandu (Nepal) with an AQI of 179 (unhealthy).
Karachi (Pakistan) ranked fifth with an AQI of 177 (unhealthy), followed by Dhaka (Bangladesh) with an AQI of 174 (unhealthy).
Hangzhou (China) and Lahore (Pakistan) ranked seventh and eighth with an AQI of 166 (unhealthy), followed by Tehran (Iran) with an AQI of 165 (unhealthy).
Mumbai (India) is ranked 10th with an AQI of 163 (unhealthy), closely followed by Shanghai (China) with an AQI of 162 (unhealthy).
AQI of the first and second-ranked cities (Delhi, Kolkata) is very unhealthy, that of the third to 16th cities is unhealthy, and that of the 17th to 28th cities is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Normal rain, higher temperatures likely in Pakistan during January 2026
