Kazakhstan’s most harmful city for health has been named

Tengrinews.kz — It has been revealed which city in Kazakhstan recorded the most polluted air in December 2025. The data was provided by Kazhydromet.

How the monitoring was conducted

Air quality monitoring was carried out in 70 settlements across the country at 175 observation posts, including 44 stations with manual sampling.

Both stationary posts and mobile laboratories were used to assess air quality. Measurements covered major and specific pollutants, including suspended particles PM2.5 and PM10, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, hydrogen sulfide, and heavy metals.

Key findings

According to Kazhydromet’s monitoring results for December 2025:

• 41 settlements showed low air pollution levels
• 18 settlements had elevated pollution
• 10 settlements were classified as having high pollution
• 1 settlement recorded a very high level of air pollution

Very high pollution level

Karaganda

In December 2025, Karaganda recorded 19 cases of high air pollution.

“From 2021 to 2025, Karaganda has consistently shown a high level of air pollution. The main pollutants include suspended particles (dust), PM2.5 and PM10, as well as carbon monoxide,” the agency reported.

High pollution level

Ten settlements, including Almaty, Taldykorgan, Temirtau, Turkestan, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Zhezkazgan, Pavlodar, Abay, and the settlements of Kyzylsai and Shubarshi.

Elevated pollution level

Eighteen settlements, including Astana, Shymkent, Aktobe, Atyrau, Semey, Taraz, Petropavlovsk, Balkhash, and others.

Low pollution level

Forty-one settlements were classified as having low air pollution levels, including Aktau, Kokshetau, Kostanay, Oral, Kyzylorda, Rudny, Ekibastuz, Zhanaozen, and several towns and villages.