Deaths from Indoor Air Pollution
CURRENT TOTAL
Live Counter Notable Facts
(Data shown in the table is for 2025. Counter shows current estimate)
Annual Global Deaths
Per Hour Rate
Children Under 5
Understanding Deaths from Indoor Air Pollution
This counter tracks deaths caused by household air pollution from cooking and heating with solid fuels such as wood, charcoal, coal, dung, and crop waste. Approximately 2.1 billion people worldwide still rely on these polluting fuels, creating deadly indoor air pollution.
When burned indoors, these fuels release dangerous levels of fine particulate matter and carbon monoxide, with pollution levels up to 100 times higher than WHO guidelines. Women and children, who spend the most time near cooking fires, bear the greatest health burden from this preventable cause of death.
Household air pollution causes multiple diseases including pneumonia, stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. It is particularly devastating for children under five, causing over 500,000 deaths annually when combined with its contribution to outdoor air pollution.
Household Air Pollution Impact Overview
- Indoor air pollution from cooking with solid fuels affects one-third of the global population, making it one of the most widespread environmental health risks, particularly in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia.
- The health impacts extend beyond respiratory diseases - household air pollution accounts for 12% of all deaths from heart disease and stroke globally, demonstrating how smoke exposure affects the entire cardiovascular system.
- Women and girls face a double burden, experiencing both direct health impacts from smoke exposure during cooking and indirect impacts from time spent collecting fuel, which limits educational and economic opportunities.
- Progress is being made with deaths falling by 36% since 2000 due to increased access to cleaner cooking fuels, but current investment levels of under $200 million annually fall far short of the $10 billion needed to achieve universal clean cooking by 2030.
Indoor Air Pollution Terminology
- Household Air Pollution: Indoor pollution from burning solid fuels for cooking and heating
- Solid Fuels: Wood, charcoal, coal, dung, and crop residues used for cooking
- Clean Cooking: Use of electricity, gas, or other non-polluting cooking methods
- PM2.5 Indoor: Fine particulate matter concentration inside homes
Deaths by Disease Type
- Ischemic Heart Disease: 32% of household air pollution deaths
- Stroke: 23% of deaths
- Pneumonia: 27% of deaths
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: 20% of deaths
- Lung Cancer: 8% of deaths
Regional Impact Distribution
- Sub-Saharan Africa: 60% of population uses solid fuels
- South Asia: 1.15 million annual deaths
- Southeast Asia: 650,000 annual deaths
- China: Dramatic 50% reduction in deaths since 2000
- India: Largest absolute number of affected people
Clean Cooking Solutions Progress
- LPG access expanded to 300 million in India since 2016
- Electric cooking adoption growing 20% annually
- Improved biomass stoves reduce emissions by 50-80%
- Solar cooking technologies emerging in sunny regions
- Investment gap: $9.8 billion annually to reach universal access
Data Sources and References
Methodology and Data Collection
Death estimates are based on WHO and Global Burden of Disease data, calculating mortality from household air pollution exposure using household surveys on fuel use, exposure-response relationships, and disease-specific mortality data.
Real-time counter applies a rate of 365 deaths per hour based on the annual estimate of 3.2 million premature deaths from household air pollution, with higher rates in regions with limited access to clean cooking fuels.