In this Dec. 12, 2015, file photo, visitors to a park gestures at each other near chimneys spewing smoke in Beijing. Environmental pollution - from filthy air to contaminated water - is killing more people every year than all war and violence in the world. One out of every six premature deaths in the world in 2015 - about 9 million - could be attributed to disease from toxic exposure, according to a major study released Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 in The Lancet medical journal. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Increasing pollution worldwide is proving deadlier than war, natural disasters or smoking, according to a new report published in the Lancet medical journal. Based largely on 2015 data from the Global Burden of Disease, the report estimates that at least 9 million premature deaths were caused during the year by diseases from toxic exposure.
While the highest death tolls were reported mostly in Asia, the highest rates of pollution-related mortality were seen in Africa.
Here are the countries with the highest number of pollution-related deaths and the highest pollution-related mortality rates.
10 HIGHEST POLLUTION-RELATED DEATH TOLLS (PERCENT OF ALL DEATHS)
India: 2,515,518 (24.5 percent)
China: 1,838,251 (19.5 percent)
Pakistan: 311,189 (21.9 percent)
Bangladesh: 260,836 (26.6 percent)
Nigeria: 257,093 (18.7 percent)
Indonesia: 211,896 (13.5 percent)
Russia: 172,536 (8.6 percent)
United States: 155,155 (5.7 percent)
Ethiopia: 129,450 (19.1 percent)
Democratic Republic of the Congo: 123,942 (18 percent)
Delhi's landmark India Gate, a war memorial, is seen engulfed in morning smog a day after Diwali festival, in New Delhi, India, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. Environmental pollution - from filthy air to contaminated water - is killing more people every year than all war and violence in the world. One out of every six premature deaths in the world in 2015 - about 9 million - could be attributed to disease from toxic exposure, according to a major study released Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 in The Lancet medical journal. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
10 HIGHEST RATES OF POLLUTION-RELATED DEATHS PER 100,000 POPULATION (PERCENT OF ALL DEATHS)
Somalia: 316.3 (26.5 percent)
Central African Republic: 303.8 (18.9 percent)
Chad: 284.9 (25.6 percent)
South Sudan: 264.2 (23.2 percent)
Niger: 245.5 (24.9 percent)
Guinea-Bissau: 238.9 (20.1 percent)
Lesotho: 226.8 (13.0 percent)
Afghanistan: 211.7 (18.7 percent)
India: 196.2 (24.5 percent)
Burundi: 178.7 (20.4 percent)
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Source: The Lancet Pollution Commission
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