Germany: The 10 cities with the highest levels of air pollution

Elevated pollutant levels in the air are both a cause and a consequence of a critical environmental situation. Vehicle exhausts on the roads, clouds of smoke from the chimneys of industrial plants and emissions from agriculture are just a few of the factors that contribute to a considerable build-up of pollutants - and consequently lead to poor air quality in many places. A study by the Swiss air quality technology company IQAir has now published the names of the 10 cities in Germany that suffer the most from the problem of air pollution, using historical data over the period 2017-2021. 

The 10th place in the ranking is occupied by the city of Krefeld (North Rhine-Westphalia), with particulate matter levels - calculated in the IQAir ranking with the unit micrometres per cubic metre - that were around 12.9 µg/m3 in 2021. This is followed by two cities from North Rhine-Westphalia, namely Gelsenkirchen and Duisburg. At these two junctions in the Ruhr region, the measured values are not much higher than those from Krefeld. The particulate matter levels here are about 13 µg/m3 and 13.2 µg/m3. The Hanseatic city of Lübeck, in 6th place in the ranking with 13.3 µg/m3 of particulate matter, and the smaller municipality of Pfalzgrafenweiler (5th place) and Tolk (4th place) with just under 10,000 inhabitants are also in a similar order of magnitude. In the latter, the pollutant measurements also showed values between 13.5 µg/m3 and 14 µg/m3. 

In contrast, the locations in the first three places exceed the annual 14 micrometres per cubic metre. In third place is Northeim in southern Lower Saxony, where air pollution in 2021 was 15.2 µg/m3. The level of particulate matter in Meiderich in the Duisburg district of Meiderich-Beeck was as high as 17.1 µg/m3, putting it in second place in the IQAir ranking. In first place, which earned it the title of Germany's most polluted city, is the district town of Meppen in Lower Saxony. With an annual mean value of 17.8 µg/m3 , the highest value in the Federal Republic was reached here last year. 

At first glance, it may seem surprising that the names of major German cities did not make it into the list, but on closer inspection it makes perfect sense. It is therefore not surprising that most of the places in the ranking are smaller cities. For it is precisely there - much more than in state capitals, for example - that many vehicles are still permitted. Even older cars, which are still powered by dirty engines, are allowed to drive on the roads here - with negative effects for the environment, as the ranking itself makes clear. No environmental zones or other restrictions of any kind aimed at reducing traffic flow and the corresponding emissions have yet found their place.  

Only three of the cities mentioned, on the other hand, have already established low emission zones, namely Krefeld, Gelsenkirchen and Duisburg. Although these still appear on the list and thus still have elevated particulate levels, they are in lower places on the ranking - with Krefeld in 10th place, Gelsenkirchen in 8th place and Duisburg in 7th place. Despite a few exceptions, for example on busy roads in Gelsenkirchen, the urban areas have in fact improved significantly in terms of particulate pollution since the introduction of environmental zones in 2011 and 2012 - with falling levels of pollutants exceeding the permissible limits on fewer and fewer days.  

In this case, too, it can therefore be argued that environmental zones are an effective and proactive solution for emitting fewer emissions in the transport sector and consequently positively influencing air quality. Whether smaller cities - regardless of population density or size of urban area - should also at least consider creating emission-based driving restrictions and bans? For the cities that have landed in the top 10 most polluted in Germany, this definitely seems like a good idea.