Pakistan’s Karachi is only behind Bangladesh’s Dhaka in the world’s most polluted cities list, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching a very unhealthy level of 249 on Sunday.
According to data collected from the IQ Air website on Sunday at 12:18 pm, Dhaka (Bangladesh) leads the list with an AQI of 346 (hazardous), followed by Karachi, Pakistan, with an AQI of 249 (very unhealthy).
Kolkata (India) ranked third with an AQI of 245 (very unhealthy), closely followed by Kabul (Afghanistan) with an AQI of 237 (very unhealthy).
Delhi (India) ranked fifth with an AQI of 235 (very unhealthy), followed by Hangzhou (China) and Nepal’s Kathmandu with an AQI of 171 (unhealthy).
Hanoi (Vietnam) is ranked eighth with an AQI of 170 (unhealthy), followed by Sarajevo (Bosnia Herzegovina) with an AQI of 165 (unhealthy).
Mumbai (India) is ranked 10th with an AQI of 161 (unhealthy), closely followed by Lahore (Pakistan) with an AQI of 158 (unhealthy).
AQI of the first-ranked city (Dhaka) is hazardous, that of the second to fifth (Karachi, Kolkata, Kabul and Delhi) is very unhealthy, and that of the sixth to 11th cities is unhealthy.
Normal rain, higher temperatures likely in Pakistan during January 2026
