The Philippines is an archipelagic state in Southeast Asia. It consists of over
7,500 islands which can be regarded as being in three separate areas, Luzon, Visayas and
Mindanao. The capital city is Manila which is located in the northern area of
Luzon. A survey conducted in 2020 estimated the population to be in excess of
109 million people. In December 2020 the air quality index AQI for Manila
recorded levels of 91 US AQI which classifies it as “Moderate” according to the
World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendations. The main pollutant being
PM2.5 with a concentration of 31.2 µg/m³.
In 2019 Philippines was ranked as being 57 out of 98 countries, with an average US
AQI reading of 63 and an average PM2.5 reading of 17.6 µg/m³.