World - Adjusted savings: particulate emission damage (% of GNI)

Adjusted savings: particulate emission damage (% of GNI) in World was 0.234 as of 2019. Its highest value over the past 29 years was 0.361 in 1990, while its lowest value was 0.223 in 2004.

Definition: Particulate emissions damage is the damage due to exposure of a country's population to ambient concentrations of particulates measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5), ambient ozone pollution, and indoor concentrations of PM2.5 in households cooking with solid fuels. Damages are calculated as foregone labor income due to premature death. Estimates of health impacts from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Data for other years have been extrapolated from trends in mortality rates.

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods described in "The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018: Building a Sustainable Future" (Lange et al 2018).

See also:

Year Value
1990 0.361
1991 0.324
1992 0.308
1993 0.300
1994 0.289
1995 0.279
1996 0.274
1997 0.272
1998 0.259
1999 0.250
2000 0.248
2001 0.243
2002 0.240
2003 0.230
2004 0.223
2005 0.224
2006 0.227
2007 0.228
2008 0.231
2009 0.237
2010 0.241
2011 0.240
2012 0.242
2013 0.244
2014 0.242
2015 0.247
2016 0.240
2017 0.235
2018 0.236
2019 0.234

Development Relevance: Air pollution places a major burden on world health. In many places, including cities but also nearby rural areas, exposure to air pollution exposure is the main environmental threat to health. Long-term exposure to high levels of fine particulates in the air contributes to a range of health effects, including respiratory diseases, lung cancer, and heart disease, resulting in 3.2 million deaths annually according to the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Not only does exposure to air pollution affect the health of the world’s people, it also carries huge economic costs and represents a drag on development, particularly for low and middle income countries and vulnerable segments of the population such as children and the elderly.

Limitations and Exceptions: Labor productivity losses, as calculated within the framework of adjusted net savings, represent only part of the economic costs of air pollution and should be interpreted as a lower-end estimate.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Within the national accounting framework, air pollution damages are estimated following a human capital approach. Damages from premature mortality are calculated as the present value of lost income during working age, 15-64. Premature mortality among children is valued by adjusting for years until working age and discounting more heavily into the future. Estimates are for both urban and rural areas. Exposure to household air pollution is proxied by the number of households in each country cooking with solid fuels.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Economic Policy & Debt Indicators

Sub-Topic: National accounts