The state of air quality and health impacts in Africa

Africa experiences some of the worst air pollution and some of the most severe health consequences relative to the rest of the world. In 2019, air pollution was the second leading risk factor for death across Africa after malnutrition. In contrast, unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene was the fourth largest risk factor for deaths. This large, populous, and dynamic continent is home to 5 of the world’s 10 most heavily polluted countries in terms of ambient fine particulate matter. In Sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 75% of the population relies on burning solid fuels such as coal, wood, charcoal, and dung for cooking, thus exposing over 800 million people to high concentrations of harmful pollutants at home every day. Air pollution exposures from household use of solid fuels and fossil fuel sources combine with demographic and other shifts affecting the underlying health of the population. This causes uneven impacts across countries in a region where rates of chronic (i.e., long-term), non-communicable conditions are rapidly rising in relation to the burdens imposed by communicable diseases such as diarrheal disease, lower respiratory tract infections, and malaria.
Air pollution’s impact on life expectancy is greatest in less-developed areas, where many people suffer a double burden from high ambient fine particulate matter and exposure to household air pollution (HAP). Many countries in Africa also experience high losses in life expectancy, driven primarily by exposure to household air pollution. For example, both in Niger and Somalia, exposure to air pollution has been estimated to contributed to more than 3 years of loss in life expectancy.