Switzerland - Adjusted savings: particulate emission damage (% of GNI)

Adjusted savings: particulate emission damage (% of GNI) in Switzerland was 0.038 as of 2019. Its highest value over the past 29 years was 0.182 in 1990, while its lowest value was 0.038 in 2019.

Definition: Particulate emissions damage is the damage due to exposure of a country's population to ambient concentrations of particulates measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5), ambient ozone pollution, and indoor concentrations of PM2.5 in households cooking with solid fuels. Damages are calculated as foregone labor income due to premature death. Estimates of health impacts from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Data for other years have been extrapolated from trends in mortality rates.

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods described in "The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018: Building a Sustainable Future" (Lange et al 2018).

See also:

Year Value
1990 0.182
1991 0.181
1992 0.165
1993 0.157
1994 0.151
1995 0.133
1996 0.121
1997 0.111
1998 0.100
1999 0.093
2000 0.085
2001 0.084
2002 0.080
2003 0.078
2004 0.070
2005 0.063
2006 0.060
2007 0.063
2008 0.066
2009 0.063
2010 0.056
2011 0.058
2012 0.055
2013 0.053
2014 0.051
2015 0.047
2016 0.043
2017 0.040
2018 0.040
2019 0.038

Development Relevance: Air pollution places a major burden on world health. In many places, including cities but also nearby rural areas, exposure to air pollution exposure is the main environmental threat to health. Long-term exposure to high levels of fine particulates in the air contributes to a range of health effects, including respiratory diseases, lung cancer, and heart disease, resulting in 3.2 million deaths annually according to the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Not only does exposure to air pollution affect the health of the world’s people, it also carries huge economic costs and represents a drag on development, particularly for low and middle income countries and vulnerable segments of the population such as children and the elderly.

Limitations and Exceptions: Labor productivity losses, as calculated within the framework of adjusted net savings, represent only part of the economic costs of air pollution and should be interpreted as a lower-end estimate.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Within the national accounting framework, air pollution damages are estimated following a human capital approach. Damages from premature mortality are calculated as the present value of lost income during working age, 15-64. Premature mortality among children is valued by adjusting for years until working age and discounting more heavily into the future. Estimates are for both urban and rural areas. Exposure to household air pollution is proxied by the number of households in each country cooking with solid fuels.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Economic Policy & Debt Indicators

Sub-Topic: National accounts