Clearer Seoul Sky... Ultrafine Dust Hits Lowest Level for 3 Consecutive Years

Last Year's Annual Average Concentration 18㎍/㎥
Lowest Ever Since Measurement Began in 2008

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Last year, the air quality in the Seoul area was recorded as the best since monitoring began. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the annual average concentration of fine particulate matter (PM-2.5) last year was 18㎍/㎥, marking the lowest level for three consecutive years since 2020, as of the 3rd. This is the lowest level since the start of fine particulate matter monitoring.

Last year, the number of days with "Good" fine particulate matter levels (daily average concentration of 15㎍/㎥ or less) was 182 days, the highest ever recorded, while the number of "Bad" days (daily average concentration exceeding 35㎍/㎥) was the lowest ever at 31 days.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government analyzes that the improvement in fine particulate matter concentration is due to a combination of domestic and international air quality improvement efforts and meteorological conditions. In particular, it is seen that the air quality improvement policies led by Seoul, such as the announcement and implementation of the special measure "Clear Seoul 2010" in 2007 to bring Seoul's air to advanced country levels, have been effective.

The Seoul Institute of Health and Environment also analyzed with an air quality modeling system and estimated that the actual concentration being 1.6㎍/㎥ lower than the initially expected annual average last year was due to reductions in domestic and international emissions.

Assuming that emissions last year were the same as in 2021, the modeling analysis showed that the annual average concentration last year was lower than the modeled prediction and the 2021 concentration, indicating that domestic and international efforts to improve air pollution have yielded visible results.

Additionally, last year's meteorological conditions were favorable for concentration improvement, with increased precipitation compared to the past three years and a decrease in stagnant air days from 121 days last year to 113 days this year.

Regarding the impact of foreign inflows, the improved air quality in the northeastern region of China is also estimated to have positively contributed to the improvement of Seoul's air quality.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to continuously implement high-concentration fine dust reduction measures and air quality improvement measures by source, such as automobiles, households, workplaces, and construction sites, so that citizens can feel the clear skies of Seoul this year as well.

Currently, the "4th Seasonal Fine Dust Management Plan" is being implemented, strengthening sector-specific reduction measures for four months from December last year to March this year, when air quality worsens, compared to normal times.

In particular, Seoul is actively promoting the comprehensive plan "Clearer Seoul 2030," announced last September, to improve Seoul's fine particulate matter concentration to the national air quality standard (15㎍/㎥) by 2026 and to the level of major overseas cities such as London and Paris (13㎍/㎥) by 2030.

Lee In-geun, Head of the Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, "The three consecutive years of record-low average fine particulate matter concentrations are due not only to domestic and international meteorological conditions but also to various policy efforts and citizen participation implemented to reduce fine dust." He added, "We will do our best this year as well so that citizens can experience clearer skies over Seoul."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.