ETC HE Report 2022/3: Status report of air quality in Europe for year 2021, using validated and up-to-date data

This report presents summarized information on the status of air quality in Europe in 2021, based on Up-To-Date data (i.e. prior to final quality control) and validated air quality monitoring data reported by the member and cooperating countries of the EEA. It aims at giving more timely and preliminary information on the status of ambient air quality in Europe in 2021 for five key air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, O3, NO2 and SO2). The report also gives a preliminary assessment of the progress towards meeting the European air quality standards for the protection of health and the new World Health Organization air quality guidelines, and compares the air quality status in 2021 with the previous three years.

31 Mar 2022

Jaume Targa, Anna Ripoll, Lorena Banyuls, Alberto González Ortiz, Joana Soares, Luca Liberti, Cristina Guerreiro

Prepared by:

Jaume Targa (4sfera Innova), Anna Ripoll (4sfera Innova), Lorena Banyuls (4sfera Innova),
Alberto González Ortiz (EEA), Joana Soares (NILU)

This report presents summarised information on the status of air quality in Europe in 2021, based on Up-To-Date (i.e. prior to final quality control) and validated air quality monitoring data reported by the member and cooperating countries of the EEA. It aims at giving more timely and preliminary information on the status of ambient air quality in Europe in 2021 for five key air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, O3, NO2 and SO2). The report also gives a preliminary assessment of the progress towards meeting the European air quality standards for the protection of health and the new World Health Organization air quality guidelines, and compares the air quality status in 2021 with the previous three years. The preliminary data reported for 2021 shows that more than 11% and 9% of the monitoring stations exceeded the EU standards for PM10 and O3, respectively. The WHO AQG for PM2.5, PM10, O3 and SO2 were exceeded by 94%, 66%, 92% and 4%, respectively. Exceedances of the NO2 limit value still occur in 8 reporting countries and WHO AQG still occur in 35 reporting countries.