India tops the world in pollution-related deaths

According to a report by the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, released October 19, India tops the world in pollution-related deaths, accounting for 2.5 million of the total 9 million worldwide in 2015. The biggest increases in such related deaths have been recorded in India and Bangladesh.

Filthy air is the primary cause. India accounted for 28% of the 6.5 million air-pollution-linked deaths worldwide in 2015.

At 1.81 million, India tops the charts, with China second at 1.58 million. Globally, air pollution accounts for twice the number of deaths from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.

The economic cost is significant. Productivity loss on account of ambient and household air pollution in India, a low-middle income country according to World Bank classification, is to the tune of 0.32% to 0.40% of GDP.

Pollution is responsible for 7% of annual healthcare spending in middle-income countries that are heavily polluted and rapidly developing. The report states that the economic cost will rise as the association between pollution and disease becomes clearer and more robust.