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Air pollution in Turkey
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Air pollution in Turkey
In Turkey, air pollution kills more people than any other environmental issue. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) says 99% of the global population breathes unsafe air. No province in Turkey meets the WHO guidelines for clean air. In 2024, more than 60,000 people in that country are estimated to have died from air-pollution-related illnesses. Air pollution is particularly damaging to children's health.
Road transport and sometimes coal burning pollute towns and cities. There is no legal limit on fine particulates that cause lung and other diseases. Cars and lorries spread diesel exhaust, dust, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and other fumes. There are no clean-air zones and tariffs on electric cars are higher than on cars with combustion engines. Although electric-vehicle manufacturing and sales are increasing, policy is poorly co-ordinated, and as of 2023[update], health impact assessment is not done in Turkey.
Soot from the burning of wood for cooking and heating pollutes households and some cities. Low-quality lignite coal, which is burnt in cities and in the oldest of the country's coal-fired power stations, is also a big part of the problem. Some plant-specific pollution data is collected by the Environment Ministry but is not usually published. As of 2025[update], air quality in Turkey is below that of standards set by the European Union (EU). The civil-society organization Right to Clean Air Platform Turkey estimates the lack of a legal limit on fine particulates cost Turkey's economy 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024.
Air pollution has been shown to cause cancer, and to contribute to respiratory, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Asthma is expensive to treat and can be caused by exposure to nitrogen oxides. A study of air pollution and asthma in Niğde between 2006 to 2010 showed reporting of asthma cases was closely related to ambient sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentrations. Daily variations in air pollutants were studied in Istanbul from 2013 to 2015 in relation to respiratory hospital admissions. The air pollutants PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and PM10 were shown to increase the risk of hospital admissions for respiratory diseases. Another study examined air pollutants and pediatric emergency-room visits to a tertiary hospital in Istanbul between January 2016 and December 2023. They reported increases in nitric oxide (NO), NOx, PM2.5, NO2, and PM10 were associated with more asthma-related pediatric visits to the emergency room.
Right to Clean Air Platform Turkey estimates one in seven deaths (68,000) in 2022 were due to air pollution. Other estimates of annual excess mortality range from 37,000 due to PM2.5 to 60,000 from fossil-fuel use. In many places, the health effects of air pollution cannot be estimated because there is not enough monitoring of PM10 and PM2.5 particulates; average early mortality, compared to if World Health Organization (WHO) air-pollution guidelines were followed, is estimated to be 0.4 years per person. This will vary by location because air pollution is more severe in some cities.
Air pollution in Turkey is a health risk mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and diesel.
As of 2024, Turkey's National Energy Balance statistics do not split road-transport fuel into petrol and diesel. As of 2025[update], fewer than 5% of the country's cars were electric or hybrid, with diesel, petrol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) each over 30%. Increasing the proportion of electric cars in use in Turkey to 10% by 2030 would also reduce the country's greenhouse-gas emmissions. There are high purchase taxes on new cars. There are no clean air zones and tariffs on electric cars are higher than on combustion cars. Continued electrification of the rail network and high-speed line expansion are underway.
In 2022, most fine-particulate (PM2.5) pollution in Turkey came from residential combustion for cooking and heating. Despite economic growth, the country's poorest families still use solid-biomass fuels such as wood, which pollutes some cities. Low-quality Turkish coal is also burnt. The use of these fuels increases indoor air pollution and is a health hazard; low-tier fuels are more harmful to human health. Higher-income families may use modern fuels such as natural gas or electricity, which cause less pollution and can lead to better health outcomes. Electricity supply, however, is often insufficient to meet a family's heating needs. If electricity is supplemented with low-quality biofuels, indoor air-pollution levels will increase and negatively affect health outcomes.
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Air pollution in Turkey
In Turkey, air pollution kills more people than any other environmental issue. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) says 99% of the global population breathes unsafe air. No province in Turkey meets the WHO guidelines for clean air. In 2024, more than 60,000 people in that country are estimated to have died from air-pollution-related illnesses. Air pollution is particularly damaging to children's health.
Road transport and sometimes coal burning pollute towns and cities. There is no legal limit on fine particulates that cause lung and other diseases. Cars and lorries spread diesel exhaust, dust, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and other fumes. There are no clean-air zones and tariffs on electric cars are higher than on cars with combustion engines. Although electric-vehicle manufacturing and sales are increasing, policy is poorly co-ordinated, and as of 2023[update], health impact assessment is not done in Turkey.
Soot from the burning of wood for cooking and heating pollutes households and some cities. Low-quality lignite coal, which is burnt in cities and in the oldest of the country's coal-fired power stations, is also a big part of the problem. Some plant-specific pollution data is collected by the Environment Ministry but is not usually published. As of 2025[update], air quality in Turkey is below that of standards set by the European Union (EU). The civil-society organization Right to Clean Air Platform Turkey estimates the lack of a legal limit on fine particulates cost Turkey's economy 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024.
Air pollution has been shown to cause cancer, and to contribute to respiratory, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Asthma is expensive to treat and can be caused by exposure to nitrogen oxides. A study of air pollution and asthma in Niğde between 2006 to 2010 showed reporting of asthma cases was closely related to ambient sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentrations. Daily variations in air pollutants were studied in Istanbul from 2013 to 2015 in relation to respiratory hospital admissions. The air pollutants PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and PM10 were shown to increase the risk of hospital admissions for respiratory diseases. Another study examined air pollutants and pediatric emergency-room visits to a tertiary hospital in Istanbul between January 2016 and December 2023. They reported increases in nitric oxide (NO), NOx, PM2.5, NO2, and PM10 were associated with more asthma-related pediatric visits to the emergency room.
Right to Clean Air Platform Turkey estimates one in seven deaths (68,000) in 2022 were due to air pollution. Other estimates of annual excess mortality range from 37,000 due to PM2.5 to 60,000 from fossil-fuel use. In many places, the health effects of air pollution cannot be estimated because there is not enough monitoring of PM10 and PM2.5 particulates; average early mortality, compared to if World Health Organization (WHO) air-pollution guidelines were followed, is estimated to be 0.4 years per person. This will vary by location because air pollution is more severe in some cities.
Air pollution in Turkey is a health risk mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and diesel.
As of 2024, Turkey's National Energy Balance statistics do not split road-transport fuel into petrol and diesel. As of 2025[update], fewer than 5% of the country's cars were electric or hybrid, with diesel, petrol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) each over 30%. Increasing the proportion of electric cars in use in Turkey to 10% by 2030 would also reduce the country's greenhouse-gas emmissions. There are high purchase taxes on new cars. There are no clean air zones and tariffs on electric cars are higher than on combustion cars. Continued electrification of the rail network and high-speed line expansion are underway.
In 2022, most fine-particulate (PM2.5) pollution in Turkey came from residential combustion for cooking and heating. Despite economic growth, the country's poorest families still use solid-biomass fuels such as wood, which pollutes some cities. Low-quality Turkish coal is also burnt. The use of these fuels increases indoor air pollution and is a health hazard; low-tier fuels are more harmful to human health. Higher-income families may use modern fuels such as natural gas or electricity, which cause less pollution and can lead to better health outcomes. Electricity supply, however, is often insufficient to meet a family's heating needs. If electricity is supplemented with low-quality biofuels, indoor air-pollution levels will increase and negatively affect health outcomes.
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