Maptheory
environmental2021

Average annual concentration of microplastics in surface waters (rivers)

Modelled average annual concentration of microplastics in river surface waters by country (particles per m³), highlighting hotspots of plastic leakage to oceans.

Source: UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme)•151 countries

Loading visualization...

Key Insights

Global Average
167.5particles/m³
Median: 75.0particles/m³
Countries Covered
151
with available data
Highest
Indonesia
1,200.0particles/m³
Lowest
Tonga
3.0particles/m³
Top 5 Countries
1Indonesia1,200.0particles/m³
2Philippines1,100.0particles/m³
3India980.0particles/m³
4Vietnam820.0particles/m³
5Myanmar760.0particles/m³
By Region
Asia328.4particles/m³(25 countries)
Africa271.7particles/m³(9 countries)
Other173.1particles/m³(75 countries)
South America92.0particles/m³(7 countries)
North America70.8particles/m³(4 countries)

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (3.0particles/m³)High (1,200.0particles/m³)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 167.5particles/m³)

Asia (25)
Africa (9)
Other (75)
South America (7)
North America (4)
Europe (29)
Oceania (2)

Percentile Profile

The curve shows how values change from the lowest to the highest country. Steep sections reveal inequality or outliers.

0th percentile · lowest100th percentile · highest

About This Statistic

Modelled average annual concentration of microplastics in river surface waters by country (particles per m³), highlighting hotspots of plastic leakage to oceans. Source: UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme).

Methodology

Country values are taken from the latest observation available in the linked source series.

Full Data

Rank ↑Country ↕Value ↕
1Indonesia1,200.0particles/m³
2Philippines1,100.0particles/m³
3India980.0particles/m³
4Vietnam820.0particles/m³
5Myanmar760.0particles/m³
6Sri Lanka680.0particles/m³
7Nigeria620.0particles/m³
8Thailand620.0particles/m³
9Rwanda560.0particles/m³
10Cambodia540.0particles/m³
11Benin520.0particles/m³
12Malaysia520.0particles/m³
13Pakistan520.0particles/m³
14United Republic of Tanzania520.0particles/m³
15Mozambique480.0particles/m³
16Kenya460.0particles/m³
17Bulgaria420.0particles/m³
18Malawi420.0particles/m³
19Uganda420.0particles/m³
20Ethiopia410.0particles/m³
21People's Republic of China390.0particles/m³
22Madagascar380.0particles/m³
23Djibouti360.0particles/m³
24Democratic Republic of the Congo340.0particles/m³
25Somalia340.0particles/m³
26Angola310.0particles/m³
27Ghana280.0particles/m³
28Bangladesh280.0particles/m³
29Burundi260.0particles/m³
30Guinea260.0particles/m³
31Iraq260.0particles/m³
32Mali260.0particles/m³
33Timor-Leste260.0particles/m³
34Sierra Leone260.0particles/m³
35Sudan260.0particles/m³
36Yemen260.0particles/m³
37Islamic Republic of Iran240.0particles/m³
38Chad230.0particles/m³
39Cote d'Ivoire220.0particles/m³
40Zimbabwe220.0particles/m³
41Togo220.0particles/m³
42Cameroon210.0particles/m³
43Republic of The Gambia210.0particles/m³
44Guinea-Bissau210.0particles/m³
45Senegal210.0particles/m³
46South Sudan210.0particles/m³
47Burkina Faso210.0particles/m³
48Zambia210.0particles/m³
49Republic of the Congo190.0particles/m³
50Liberia190.0particles/m³
51Niger190.0particles/m³
52Venezuela190.0particles/m³
53Nepal180.0particles/m³
54Peru180.0particles/m³
55Lao People's Democratic Republic160.0particles/m³
56Papua New Guinea160.0particles/m³
57Uzbekistan160.0particles/m³
58Brazil160.0particles/m³
59Colombia150.0particles/m³
60Lesotho140.0particles/m³
61Mexico140.0particles/m³
62Tajikistan140.0particles/m³
63Egypt140.0particles/m³
64Bolivia140.0particles/m³
65Guatemala130.0particles/m³
66Ecuador120.0particles/m³
67Honduras120.0particles/m³
68Mauritania120.0particles/m³
69Nicaragua120.0particles/m³
70South Africa120.0particles/m³
71Albania120.0particles/m³
72Bosnia and Herzegovina95.0particles/m³
73Haiti90.0particles/m³
74Kyrgyzstan85.0particles/m³
75Afghanistan85.0particles/m³
76Brunei Darussalam75.0particles/m³
77El Salvador70.0particles/m³
78Kazakhstan70.0particles/m³
79Libya70.0particles/m³
80Cyprus60.0particles/m³
81Morocco60.0particles/m³
82Dominican Republic55.0particles/m³
83Jordan55.0particles/m³
84Panama55.0particles/m³
85Türkiye55.0particles/m³
86Suriname45.0particles/m³
87Tunisia45.0particles/m³
88Algeria45.0particles/m³
89Central African Republic40.0particles/m³
90Lebanon40.0particles/m³
91Russian Federation40.0particles/m³
92Jamaica35.0particles/m³
93Namibia35.0particles/m³
94Paraguay35.0particles/m³
95Eswatini30.0particles/m³
96Kuwait25.0particles/m³
97Samoa25.0particles/m³
98Australia22.0particles/m³
99Saudi Arabia18.0particles/m³
100Argentina18.0particles/m³
101Georgia16.0particles/m³
102Moldova, Republic of16.0particles/m³
103Ukraine16.0particles/m³
104Costa Rica14.0particles/m³
105Israel14.0particles/m³
106Romania14.0particles/m³
107Greece12.0particles/m³
108Oman12.0particles/m³
109Puerto Rico12.0particles/m³
110Belgium12.0particles/m³
111France11.0particles/m³
112Hungary10.0particles/m³
113Mauritius10.0particles/m³
114Serbia10.0particles/m³
115The Republic of North Macedonia10.0particles/m³
116Austria10.0particles/m³
117Chile9.0particles/m³
118Czech Republic9.0particles/m³
119South Korea9.0particles/m³
120Slovakia9.0particles/m³
121Spain9.0particles/m³
122Croatia8.0particles/m³
123Japan8.0particles/m³
124Maldives8.0particles/m³
125Portugal8.0particles/m³
126Slovenia8.0particles/m³
127Canada7.0particles/m³
128Germany7.0particles/m³
129Montenegro7.0particles/m³
130Netherlands7.0particles/m³
131Poland7.0particles/m³
132Uruguay7.0particles/m³
133Denmark6.0particles/m³
134Ireland6.0particles/m³
135Latvia6.0particles/m³
136Lithuania6.0particles/m³
137Qatar6.0particles/m³
138Trinidad and Tobago6.0particles/m³
139United Kingdom6.0particles/m³
140United States of America6.0particles/m³
141Botswana6.0particles/m³
142Estonia5.0particles/m³
143Luxembourg5.0particles/m³
144New Zealand5.0particles/m³
145Sweden5.0particles/m³
146Switzerland5.0particles/m³
147United Arab Emirates5.0particles/m³
148Finland4.0particles/m³
149New Caledonia4.0particles/m³
150Singapore4.0particles/m³
151Tonga3.0particles/m³
Showing 151 of 151 countries

Topics

#environmental#particles/m³#average#annual#concentration#microplastics#surface#waters#rivers

Data Source

This data comes from UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) (2021).

View Original Source