More than 80 municipalities in Serbia recorded excessive air pollution in 2025, according to the latest results from the citizen-led air quality monitoring network, published in a report by the Belgrade Open School (BOŠ).
These so-called low-cost sensors, installed by citizens on windows, balconies, and houses, provide data on concentrations of suspended particles PM2.5 and PM10 at more than 340 measuring points across over 100 municipalities in Serbia. After excluding sensors with significant deviations and those that did not operate at least 80 percent of the time during the year, the analysis covered 85 municipalities.
Concentrations of PM2.5 particles exceeded the annual limit value in 37 cities and municipalities. When stricter standards of the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) are applied, not a single municipality in Serbia meets all criteria for a safe level of these most harmful particles.
According to Serbian standards, excessive air pollution from PM10 particles was recorded in 12 municipalities, with Tutin having the poorest air quality. However, under the more rigorous EU and WHO rules, only Čajetina had air that can be considered clean and safe.
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How reliable is this data?
Although these are low-cost sensors that cannot match the accuracy of official monitoring stations, comparative analyses show that citizen-operated sensors reliably reflect spatial pollution patterns. Differences exist due to calibration, micro-location, and weather conditions, but the data is sufficiently reliable for identifying the most affected municipalities and informing the public.
BOŠ emphasizes that citizen monitoring is a valuable tool, especially at a time when official reporting is delayed, but the data is still not precise enough to be used in formal analyses without additional adjustments.
The report “Air Quality in Serbia in 2025 Measured in the Network of Citizen Sensors for Air Quality Monitoring” was created within the project “Local Actors for Clean Energy and Air,” implemented by BOŠ with the support of the European Climate Foundation (ECF).
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