The 2025 IQAir Global Air Quality Report, published on March 24, ranked Kazakhstan 27th in the world for PM2.5 air pollution. At the same time, the country’s largest city, Almaty, was excluded from the ranking of capital cities, although its actual air quality indicators would place it among the 30 most polluted capitals in the world. Experts from Almaty Air Initiative reviewed the 2025 IQAir report and share its key findings.

The report presents PM2.5 air quality data from 9,446 cities across 143 countries, regions, and territories. The information was collected from more than 40,000 regulated monitoring stations. According to IQAir experts, only 14% of cities met the WHO air quality guideline in 2025, compared with 17% the previous year. In Central and South Asia, Kazakhstan ranks 8th for air pollution. The country’s annual average PM2.5 concentration was 23.4 μg/m³ — almost five times higher than the World Health Organization guideline of 5 μg/m³. Data for individual cities can be explored on the platform via the link.

Three of the world’s five most polluted countries are in Asia: Pakistan (67.3 μg/m³), Bangladesh (66.1 μg/m³), and Tajikistan (57.3 μg/m³).

Almaty (22.81 μg/m³) is absent from the published ranking of capital cities — topped by New Delhi, India, at 68 μg/m³ — because of its status as a “city of republican significance.” However, an analysis of annual PM2.5 levels conducted by Almaty Air Initiative shows that air quality in Kazakhstan’s largest city is comparable to that of neighboring capitals:

Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) — 29.7 μg/m³

Tashkent (Uzbekistan) — 39.0 μg/m³

Notably, according to the IQAir report, Almaty’s PM2.5 level increased in 2025: it was 20.3 μg/m³ in 2024, compared with 22.8 μg/m³ in 2025.

As for other cities in Kazakhstan, the picture is also mixed. Karaganda traditionally ranks among the most polluted cities in Kazakhstan, taking 1st place nationally and 26th place globally out of 9,446 cities. The annual average PM2.5 concentration in the country’s coal capital exceeded the WHO guideline by 14.5 times, reaching 72.6 μg/m³.

 

Most polluted and cleanest settlements, PM2.5 (μg/m³)
1. Karaganda 72.6 17. Zhezkazgan 2.8
2. Pervomayka 39.4 16. Kokshetau 3.0
3. Temirtau 38.3 15. Shchuchinsk 6.7
4. Burunday 35.0 14. Shetpe 9.4
5. Talgar 34.3 13. Rudny 9.8

Thanks to Kazakhstan, Central and South Asia had two cities in 2025 where concentrations of harmful fine particles met even the WHO’s strictest guideline of 5 μg/m³. Unexpectedly, the regional leader was Zhezkazgan, a city in the Ulytau Region. In the global ranking, this industrial single-industry city performed better than 98% of all other cities, ranking 9,328th out of 9,446.

Second place went to Kokshetau, which was also recognized as having the cleanest air in Kazakhstan according to Kazhydromet data for 2025. However, it is worth noting that neither Zhezkazgan nor Kokshetau has sensors from independent monitoring networks, making it more difficult to independently verify data from official monitoring stations.

Zhuldyz Saulebekova, Executive Director of Almaty Air Initiative:

“Global rankings matter not as a competition between countries, but as a tool for understanding real health risks. If Almaty were a capital city, it would rank among the 30 most polluted capitals in the world. But administrative status does not change the chemical composition of the air breathed by two million people. The global report’s data showing an increase in air pollution levels in Almaty is a clear signal that systemic solutions and transparent data are needed.”

The IQAir report also notes that some U.S. State Department air quality monitoring stations ceased operations in 2025, weakening air quality monitoring in 44 countries. Against this backdrop, local initiatives are becoming particularly important. With the support of its partners and sponsors, Almaty Air Initiative is developing the largest independent monitoring network in the region: the AAI Dashboard platform aggregates data from hundreds of sensors across the city, allowing residents to see the actual air quality situation by district in real time.

The full IQAir World Air Quality Report 2025 is available on the company’s official website. Up-to-date air quality data for Almaty is always available on the Almaty Air Initiative Dashboard, as well as through leading international and local air monitoring platforms and apps, including IQAir, AirGradient, MyCar, and inDrive.