Fourteen Greek Cities Rank Among Europe's Most Polluted Urban Areas

Data from the European Environment Agency show that fourteen Greek cities are among the 30% most polluted urban areas in Europe, based on exposure to PM₂.₅, NO₂ and O₃ for the 2024-2025 period. Ioannina records the poorest performance, placed 754th out of 761 cities, with Athens close behind at 745th, followed by Thessaloniki (729th) and Larissa (726th). Volos, Trikala and other cities also rank low, while Chania, the best-performing Greek city on the list, is still only 540th.

Six of the fourteen cities sit in the bottom decile of the European ranking and ten are in the bottom quintile. The report links the high pollution levels to traffic, residential wood heating, industry and cross-border pollutant transport.