‘City logs lowest annual PM2.5, PM10 levels since 2015, excluding Covid yr’

NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded the lowest yearly average of particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10 in 2025, barring the Covid year i.e. 2020, according to the economic survey of 2025-26 tabled in the Delhi Assembly by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday.

The report, which quotes Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s (DPCC) Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) data, the yearly average of PM10 in 2025 was 209 (measured in micrograms per cubic metre) and that of PM2.5 was 100.

This was the lowest since 2015, before which data is not available. In 2020, which was the year of the global Covid pandemic, PM10 yearly average had dropped to 187 but PM2.5 remained at 101, one unit higher than 2025. According to the DPCC data provided, the yearly average of PM10 and PM2.5 in 2024 were 225 and 110 respectively, in 2023 were 219 and 106.

The PM10 and PM2.5 yearly average were 223 and 103 in 2022, and were 221 and 113 in 2021, respectively.

The report quoted that the year-wise annual mean ambient air quality level in Delhi during 2025 was for the data till December 9, 2025.

“The average concentration was 100 µg/m³ and 209 µg/m³ respectively for PM2.5 and PM10. The peak of PM10 was recorded on May 15, 2025, when the concentration of PM10 reached up to 1154 µg/m³ due to heavy dust storm. However, PM2.5 reached up to 451 µg/m³ on the October 21, 2025, after Deepawali day,” the report said.

The survey further mentioned that the number of ‘good air days’ (good/satisfactory/moderate air quality days combined) have increased from 159 in 2018 to 200 in 2025, it said.

The standard or desirable value of the yearly average should be around 60 for PM10 and 40 for PM 2.5.