September 08, 2008

Air pollution costs 3.8% of China\'s GDP

The World Bank has warned that air pollution is costing China 3.8% of its gross domestic product, causing more diseases and claiming more lives. It has put the combined health and non health cost of outdoor air and water pollution for China's economy at around USD 100 billion a year or about 5.8% of the country's GDP.

Mr David Dollar director of the World Bank country for China and Mongolia said air pollution poses higher costs than water pollution. Mr Dollar quoting a World Bank report issued following a joint assessment with China's State Environmental Protection Administration said air pollution, especially in large cities, is leading to higher incidence of lung diseases, including cancer, respiratory system problems and therefore higher levels of work and school absenteeism, He pointed to particulate matter, which measures less than 10 microns in diameter as a major threat to health.

He said at a forum on China's investment environment in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province that the density of particulate matter in north China averages 112 microgram and that in the south, 88 microgram.

As part of the joint study, the World Bank and SEPA also conducted a survey in the southwestern Chongqing Municipality, one of the worst polluted Chinese regions, and the commercial center Shanghai, and found many citizens are willing to pay for reduced health risks associated with environmental pollution.