Lahore leads the list of the world’s most polluted cities, as the Air Quality Index (AQI) hits the hazardous level of 325.
No relief is in sight as the prolonged dryness and stable atmospheric conditions are causing a gradual accumulation of pollutants in the atmosphere.
According to the data collected from the IQ Air website on Sunday at 04:10 pm, Vietnam’s Hanoi is at the second spot with an AQI of 228 (very unhealthy), closely followed by India’s Delhi with an AQI of 209 (very unhealthy).
Kazakhstan’s Almaty ranked fourth with an AQI of 188 (unhealthy), followed by Kolkata (India) with an AQI of 178 (unhealthy).
Tehran (Iran) ranked sixth with an AQI of 168 (unhealthy), closely followed by Dhaka (Bangladesh) with an AQI of 162 (unhealthy). Baghdad (Iraq) ranked eighth with an AQI of 161 (unhealthy).
Seoul (South Korea) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan) are ranked ninth and tenth with an AQI of 160 (unhealthy).
AQI of the top city (Lahore) is hazardous, and that of the second and third cities is very unhealthy, while that of the fourth to 13th cities is unhealthy.
Less rainfall, higher temperatures likely in Pakistan during December 2025
