Top 5 most polluted African countries mid-2024

One of the most significant direct consequences of pollution on African economies is the cost it imposes on the system’s health care.

In some countries across the continent, air and water pollution is the major cause of respiratory ailments, amongst other diseases.

This of course puts a massive strain on the finances, as countries are forced to allocate higher budgets to health care programs.

There are also indirect losses pollution causes to an economy via health concerns.

For example, productivity is hampered if a good number of the working class population have to deal with frequent illnesses.

Additionally, pollution contributes considerably to environmental deterioration and climate change, which have far-reaching economic consequences.

Africa is especially vulnerable to climate change, with rising temperatures, altering rainfall patterns, while causing more droughts and floods.

Pollution exacerbates these impacts, which affect agriculture, water supply, and biodiversity.

Each country on the continent endures different levels of pollution. While some countries have manageable pollution indexes, some are not as fortunate.

Numbeo, an online database of perceived metrics that determine quality of life, has a pollution index that provides an estimation of overall pollution levels worldwide.

This index is a result of an intricately constructed survey which considers factors such as air and water pollution, garbage disposal, cleanliness, noise and light pollution, green spaces, and comfort in relation to pollution. See methodology here…

With that said, here are the countries with the highest pollution indexes in Africa.