Health burden of air pollution in London

City Hall commissioned Imperial College London to assess the impact on health of the mayoral air quality policies, and air pollution in London, based on 2019 and future levels of air pollution up to 2050. Key findings include:

• The Mayor’s air quality policies and wider improvements in air pollution will increase the average life expectancy of a child born in London in 2013 by six months.
• In 2019, in Greater London, the equivalent of between 3,600 to 4,100 deaths were estimated to be attributable to air pollution, considering that health effects exist even at very low levels. This calculation is for deaths from all causes including respiratory, lung cancer and cardiovascular deaths.
• The highest number of deaths was in outer London boroughs, mainly due to the higher proportion of elderly people in these areas, who are more vulnerable to the impacts of air pollution. The boroughs with the highest number of air pollution related deaths in 2019 were Bromley, Barnet, Croydon and Havering. This underlines that pollution is not just a central London problem.