Albania's capital continues to be one of Europe's busiest countries. The pollution index, calculated by Numbeo, the largest data portal on quality of life, showed that pollution in Tirana was the highest in the six months of 2019, scoring 83.72 points, down from 82.8 at the beginning of this year. . Numbeo estimates that for the first six months of this year Tirana is Europe's most polluted capital and third as a city, with Tetovo in Macedonia and Chelyabinsk in Russia ranking first.
The deterioration of the level of pollution in Tirana also brings about a decrease in the quality of life for those living in the capital or who are considering moving to Tirana. Numbeo serves as the largest database of costs and quality of life for foreigners seeking information on where to travel or relocate.
After Tirana, Europe's second most polluted capital is Skopje. According to data published by Numbeo, the pollution index in Skopje stood at 82.6. But unlike Tirana, Skopje's pollution index has not changed during the first half of the year.
According to the Numbeo rankings, from the most polluted cities to the least polluted ones, the most polluted ones dominate Eastern and Southeast European cities, mainly in Russia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Ukraine.
Among the most polluted cities of the countries that are members of the European Union is Naples, which is in the sixth place, while Bucharest, Romania, ranks 9th.
Europe's least polluted city, according to Numbeos' estimate, is Helsinki, the capital of Finland, which scored 6th by 2019 with just 12.4 points on the pollution index.
Other cities that are slightly polluted, among others, are Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, Zurich in Switzerland, Stockholm, Malmo and Gothenburg in Sweden, Vienna in Austria and Copenhagen in Denmark, which rank less than 20 points in the pollution index.
In total, 82 cities on the European continent were considered.
The Numbeo Pollution Index is a calculation of a city's total pollution. Greater weight is attributed to air pollution and then weight to water pollution, two of the main factors contributing to pollution. Other types of pollution have a lower weight.
Source: Monitor
