According to a report by the European Environment Agency, Faro and Funchal are among the ten cities in Europe with the best air quality and the lowest concentration of fine particles. Uppsala and Umea, in Sweden, top the list.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) recently released a report identifying and ranking the European cities with the best air quality. Portugal has two cities in the top 10, with Faro in third place (3.6 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter) and Funchal in eighth (4.4 micrograms).
At the top of the list are the Swedish cities of Uppsala (3.5 micrograms) and Umeå (with 3.6 micrograms, similar to Faro, but with about twice the population). In Portugal, two more cities with acceptable atmospheric quality were analyzed: Lisbon, in 38th place (7.0 micrograms) and Sintra, in 104th place.
On the other hand, the city with the most polluted air is Slavonski Brod, in Croatia, with 26.5 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter.
The report analyzed the average levels of fine particles in 375 European cities, based on data collected between 2022 and 2023 at more than 500 monitoring stations in urban locations in EEA member countries. The study focused on PM2.5 particles, since they are one of the most harmful pollutants for human health, especially in terms of factors such as premature death and the development of diseases. In 2020, for example, air pollution caused at least 238,000 premature deaths in the European Union, according to the EEA.
Only 13 cities recorded average levels of fine particles below the recommended levels set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and three out of four European citizens live in urban areas, most of whom are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution.
“Policies to reduce air pollution have led to an improvement in air quality in Europe over the last three decades. However, in some European cities air pollution still poses health risks,” reads the report.
In 2021, the WHO updated its air quality guidelines, recommending a maximum level of 5 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter for long-term exposure.
According to the EEA, these are the cities with the cleanest air in Europe:
In AEA’s peer reviews for 2020 and 2021, Faro and Funchal came second and third respectively, with Umeå in first place.
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