Slovenia's capital Ljubljana has placed 310th among 372 cities in Europe where the European Environment Agency (EEA) measured average levels of PM 2.5 fine particles in the air in 2022 and 2023. Its air quality was rated as poor.

Data about PM 2.5 particles were gathered from more than 500 stations in urban areas in all EU member states, as well as in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Based on those, only 13 cities had levels compatible with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations of up to 5 microgrammes per cubic metre of air.

With 15.4 microgrammes, Ljubljana is in the group of 71 cities with poor air quality, or more than 15.1 microgrammes of PM 2.5 particles per cubic metre of air.

Slovenia's second largest city Maribor did a bit better, placing 253rd overall. With 12.1 microgrammes of PM 2.5 particles, Maribor was moderately polluted alongside another 117 cities, including Italy's Rome and Croatia's Zagreb.

The cleanest air was measured in Sweden's Uppsala and Umea and Portugal's Faro, followed by four capitals in the north - Reykjavik, Tallinn, Stockholm and Helsinki.

Acceptable quality of air (5.1 to 10.0 microgrammes) was measured in 169 cities, including the Austrian capital Vienna, while Croatia's Slavonski Brod (26.5) was the only city to have very poor air quality.

While three quarters of all Europeans live in urban areas, the results of the measurements show that most of them are exposed to dangerously polluted air.

"Improving air quality to the levels recommended by the WHO could significantly reduce the number of premature deaths caused by air pollution," the EEA said on 29 August.