Air quality statistics
An annual update on concentrations of major air pollutants in the UK.
Documents
Details
This publication summarises the concentrations of major air pollutants as measured by the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN). This release covers annual average concentrations in the UK of:
- nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
- particulates (PM2.5)
- particulates (PM10)
- ozone (O3)
The release also covers the number of days when air pollution was ‘Moderate’ or higher for any one of five pollutants listed below:
- nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
- particulates (PM2.5)
- particulates (PM10)
- ozone (O3)
- sulphur dioxide (SO2)
These statistics are used to monitor progress against the UK’s reduction targets for concentrations of air pollutants. Improvements in air quality help reduce harm to human health and the environment.
Air quality in the UK is strongly linked to anthropogenic emissions of pollutants. For more information on UK emissions data and other information please refer to the air quality and emissions statistics GOV.UK page.
The statistics in this publication are based on data from the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) of air quality monitors. The UK-AIR website contains the latest air quality monitoring data for the UK and detailed information about the different monintoring networks that measure air quality. The website also hosts the latest data produced using Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) which is a suite of models that uses both monitoring and emissions data to model concentrations of air pollutants across the whole of the UK. The UK-AIR website also provides air pollution episode updates and information on Local Aurthority Air Quality Mangement Areas as well as a number of useful reports.
The monitoring data is continuously reviewed and subject to change when issues are highlighted. This means that the time series for certain statistics may vary slightly from year to year. You can access editions of this publication via The National Archives or the links below.
The datasets associated with this publication can be found here ENV02 - Air quality statistics.
2022
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2021
2021
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2020
2020
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2019
2019
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2018
2018
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2017
2017
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2016
2016
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2015
2015
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2014
2014
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2013
2013
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2012
2012
Air Quality Statistics in the UK, 1987 to 2011
2011
Air Quality Indicators – 2010 final UK Results
2010
Air Quality Indicator for sustainable development: 2009 final results
2009
Air Quality Indicator for sustainable development: 2008 final results
2008
Air Quality Indicator for sustainable development: 2007 final results
Defra statistics: environment
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Last updated 27 April 2023 + show all updates
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Figures for 2022 published.
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New addition including 2021 data published.
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Figures for 2020 Published.
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Amendment to text of attachment entitled Summary.
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This publication has been updated to address accessibility issues. Changes include modification of alt text, improvement to the colour contrast of figures, removal of merged cells in tables, and tweaks to formatting such as subscripting and HTML links. Some of the text has been reworded to improve clarity and understanding, but no changes have been made to the statistics since the initial publication in February.
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Figures for 2019 published
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Release including 2018 data published
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Annual figures released
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New release with figures up to 2016 published.
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Annual update.
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new figures for 2014 published
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Annual update to publication.
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First published.
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Air quality statistics - 2012 data published.
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Addition of the Pre-release announcement published February 2013.