Peshawar Air quality today

Why does Peshawar's air get worse in winter?

Peshawar lies in a basin surrounded by mountains, which makes it prone to winter pollution episodes ^[1]. There, temperature inversions trap emissions from local and regional sources ^[1]. An inversion happens when air near the ground cools while warmer air above forms a cap, which holds pollution near the ground ^[1].

Smog, a word made from smoke and fog, is the haze that forms when pollution stays trapped near the ground this way ^[1]. In Peshawar, pollution usually peaks from November to February and eases in the monsoon season ^[1]. In the winter of 2023 to 2024, levels were 4.1 times the average of the monsoon that followed ^[1].

In January 2024, a climate policy specialist told Dawn that cold weather kept pollutants from dispersing ^[6]. By IQAir monitor data, Peshawar's air was rated hazardous on five days and very unhealthy on three days from January 1 to 9, 2024 ^[6].

Where does Peshawar's pollution come from?

Among the most harmful pollutants is PM2.5, fine particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller ^[1][7]. The largest of them is about 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair ^[7].

By the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative's 2025 report, transport makes 51% of Peshawar's PM2.5 emissions, brick kilns 19%, and small traditional industries such as metalwork and pottery 14% ^[1]. The report blames an ageing, unregulated freight fleet serving the city's transit trade ^[1].

A 2022 study by the Peshawar Clean Air Alliance also found transport the biggest source, followed by dust, homes, industry, waste burning and commerce ^[2]. It counted about 450 brick kilns in Peshawar, and nearly 850,000 registered vehicles by the end of 2020, nearly half of them motorbikes ^[2]. In November 2023, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Environmental Protection Agency blamed marble factories, brick kilns and smoke from old school buses, rickshaws and taxis ^[3].

How bad is Peshawar's air?

In 2024, Peshawar's yearly average PM2.5 was 95.8 micrograms per cubic metre, over 19 times the WHO guideline of 5 and more than six times Pakistan's national standard ^[1]. Not one day of 2024 met the WHO 24-hour guideline, and on 304 days pollution broke the national 24-hour legal limit ^[1].

Winter months are far worse. In January 2024 the monthly average was 256.7 micrograms per cubic metre, about 50 times the WHO yearly guideline ^[1]. Peshawar also has the highest PM2.5 emissions per person of Pakistan's major cities, at 2.14 kg a year ^[1]. The World Air Quality Report 2021 ranked Peshawar the third most polluted city in Pakistan and ninth in the world ^[2].

In December 2025, a study at the Peshawar Institute of Cardiology linked air pollution in the first half of that month to more hospital visits, mainly by older people and children ^[5].

What has been measured, and what is being done?

From December 29, 2021 to January 2, 2022, the Federal EPA measured PM2.5 above the national limit at all its sites in Peshawar, especially beside roads ^[4]. On November 26, 2023, the provincial EPA's director general said the city's air quality index had reached a record 285 ^[3].

The Peshawar Clean Air Alliance named an air quality monitoring system as the top priority in 2022, along with more public transport and tree planting ^[2]. The 2025 report calls for freight routes away from crowded areas, inspections of freight trucks and a larger Bus Rapid Transit network ^[1]. It also wants every brick kiln switched to cleaner zigzag technology, and cleaner equipment for small industries ^[1].

How to protect yourself in Peshawar

Check the air quality index before planning time outdoors, and on bad days choose lighter activities, shorten them, and exercise away from busy roads ^[8]. On very unhealthy days, people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children, teenagers, pregnant people and outdoor workers should avoid physical activity outdoors ^[8].

When particle levels are high outdoors, they can be high indoors too ^[8]. Keep particles lower indoors by not smoking or burning candles inside, cutting back on wood fires, and using HEPA filters or a portable air cleaner designed to reduce particles ^[8].