For India, air pollution is reducing the average life expectancy of the population by five years, the report stated.

In comparison, 1.8 years of life are lost in the Asian country due to child and maternal malnutrition, while smoking steals almost two years of life expectancy.

India, with a population of some 1.3 billion, breathes air with a level of particle pollution far above the limit established by the World Health Organization (WHO).

In addition, more than 63 percent of Indian citizens breathe air worse than the national air quality standard.

If WHO guidelines are met in the country’s 10 most populous states, this indicator could improve considerably, the research stated.

Since 1998, the average annual particle pollution increased by 61.4 percent and since 2013, about 44 percent of the global increase has come from this Asian territory.

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