Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost of air pollution is to the economy.

Air pollution can affect economic output through several channels. These include:

• Affecting the size of the working population;
• Reducing the amount of hours worked per worker, if they are sick and cannot work (or have to attend for a sick relative);
• Reducing workers’ productivity when at work;
• Increasing cost for health care resources that could be used elsewhere; and
• Affecting the quality of natural capital, reducing yields in agriculture.

Public Health England found that costs to the NHS and social care in England due to diseases related to air pollution could amount to as much as £5.5 billion for the 2017-2025 period, unless action is taken.

An analysis commissioned by Defra estimates that particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone reduces GDP by 0.11% through labour productivity losses. It also shows that greater vulnerability of children to poor air quality also affects their productivity in the long term.

The OECD estimates that an increase in concentration of particulate matter by 1µg/m³ - equivalent to a 13% rise in the UK - would cause a 0.8% reduction in GDP on average in European countries.

Improving air quality remains a top priority for the government and, especially during these unprecedented times, we will continue to take robust and comprehensive action to improve air quality in the UK and minimise its impacts on both public health and the economy.

We estimate that actions set out in our Clean Air Strategy could cut the costs of air pollution to society by £1.7 billion every year from now, rising to £5.3bn from 2030. These estimates are based on Defra damage costs, which provide impact values for a range of outcomes beyond economic impacts, in particular public health and ecosystem impacts.