Air quality and emissions statistics
This series brings together all documents relating to Air quality and emissions statistics.
This series contains National Statistics on emissions of air pollutants in the UK and air quality (concentrations of air pollutants) in the UK.
Emissions of air pollutants
The UK compiles and reports an annual air pollutant emissions inventory known as the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI), a consistent time series of anthropogenic UK emissions of air pollutants from 1970 onwards (from 1980 for emissions of ammonia). The NAEI includes emissions from industry, transport, agriculture, waste and domestic sources. The inventory database can be queried on the NAEI website, which also contains the database for the UK greenhouse gas inventory.
National statistics on emissions of air pollutants in the UK are also produced in February each year and provide an accessible source of data for users who are not inventory experts. These statistics also allow users to monitor the UK’s progress in meeting international ceilings on annual emissions of air pollutants.
Air Quality
Air quality in the UK is affected by emissions included in the NAEI, but also by secondary formation of air pollutants, emissions originating from outside the UK, and geographical and meteorological factors. The UK monitors air quality nationally through a number of networks of monitoring stations. The network that monitors concentrations of the most well-known pollutants is called the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN), which reports data hourly in near real-time on the UK-AIR website. Historical hourly data for each monitoring site are available to extract from the UK-AIR database on the website along with a variety of other data tools.
National statistics on air quality in the UK are also produced in April each year and provide an accessible assessment of long-term trends in air quality as measured by the AURN. In September each year, measurements from the national monitoring networks are combined with modelling outputs to form a national assessment of air quality against the limit and target values for concentrations of air pollutants set internationally and domestically. The government publishes an annual report on the results of this assessment, and the modelling data used for this report is published in an interactive map on the UK-AIR website.
Local authorities also carry out air quality monitoring as part of their statutory duties to review and assess local air quality. Some of these monitoring stations are also reported through the UK-AIR website, but local authorities produce separate annual status reports on their monitoring network which they often publish on their websites or alternatively provide a contact email address to request them.
Additional Information
Further information on air quality in the UK and emissions of air pollutants is available from:
-
UK-AIR – provides much of the air quality information in the UK, including:
-
near real-time data from the UK national monitoring networks and a database of measurements from the networks
-
a five-day air quality forecast as measured against the Daily Air Quality Index, and associated health advice.
-
A reports library for air quality science and research, including work by the UK Air Quality Expert Group.
-
Maps and summary statistics of Air Quality Management Areas designated by local authorities.
-
-
NAEI website – provides a database of national emissions estimates for air pollutants and greenhouse gases, including a map of emission sources in the UK as well as emission factors and relevant reports.
-
UK Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) – a UK inventory for pollution from industrial sources that is released to air, water or soil. There is also a Europe-wide version known as E-PRTR run by the European Environment Agency that includes UK data.
-
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) – a guide to air quality policy in England including the Clean Air Strategy 2019.
-
Scottish Government – a guide to air quality policy and monitoring in Scotland.
-
Welsh Government – a guide to air quality policy and monitoring in Wales.
-
Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs – a guide to air quality policy and monitoring in Northern Ireland.
-
Public Health England – guidance on the effects of poor air quality on human health, and statistics on the mortality burden of PM2.5 by local authority.
-
European Environment Agency – an agency of the European Union that provides sound, independent information on the environment.
-
Local authorities also monitor air quality and produce annual status reports on local air quality. These reports are often published by the local authority online or are available by request.
Please email enviro.statistics@defra.gov.uk if you have any questions or comments about the information on this page.
National Statistics
Emissions of air pollutants in the UK
Accompanying tables (ENV01) to Emissions of air pollutants in the UK
Air quality statistics in the UK
Accompanying tables (ENV02) to Air quality statistics in the UK
Publications
Statistical datasets
Updates to this page
Last updated 14 February 2020 + show all updates
-
Publication of annual statistical release.
-
Changes to out of date information in body text of this page.
-
local pollution statistics published
-
new local pollution statistics published
-
re-grouping documents
-
First published.