From killing over 600,000 elderly from dementia to an almost equal number of infants under the age of one-year, air pollution’s impact on young and old is explained simply through hard-hitting numbers in the latest State of Global Air  (SOGA) report, by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute. The report identifies plenty of scope for immediate policy action with multiple benefits for reducing an estimated 7.9 million deaths annually from air pollution. 

Dementia attributable to air pollution resulted in 626,000 deaths in 2023, a new report finds. That is more than one death every minute. 

This is the first time that the State of Global Air, an annual assessment of air quality worldwide, includes information about the burden of dementia attributable to air pollution – including some 28% of total dementia deaths every year.  

The new data is based on the 2023 Global Burden of Disease study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), reflecting the growing epidemiological evidence about the higher levels of dementia disease and deaths in cities and regions that are more polluted.