The indicator is based on information related to air quality plans which, according to Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010), must be adopted in case of exceedances of the limits set for major air pollutants.

At the national level, information on air quality plans, communicated by the regions and autonomous provinces in the format required by Decision 2011/850/EU, is collected and stored by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, and subsequently transmitted to the European Commission (EC) "within two years of the end of the year in which the first exceedance was observed" (Directive 2008/50/EC, Article 23).

This information does not need to be transmitted annually, but only when new elements are to be reported. Therefore, both the information submitted in 2024 and the data provided in previous years by regions/autonomous provinces that were not required to submit new data are analysed.

The analysis shows that the measures reported in 2023 (adopted following exceedances recorded in 2021) and those previously submitted and still in force total 517, of which 50% fall within the Road Transport sector and 17% within the Residential and Commercial sector.

The above-mentioned analysis shows that the measures reported in 2024 (adopted following exceedances of limit values recorded in 2022), together with those submitted in previous years and still in force, amount to a total of 527. Of these, 50.1% fall within the Road transport sector and 17.5% within the Residential and commercial sector.

Estimates of annual population-weighted exposure (PWE) to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), aggregated at municipal level, were produced using an integrated approach combining measurements and statistical modelling. The resulting data, covering the period 2016–2023, allow for comparison of PWE across all municipalities and provide a comprehensive national overview of average exposure levels.

In 2023, 77% of the population was exposed to concentrations above the WHO air quality guideline (10 µg/m³).
The national average PWE was 11 µg/m³ (minimum–maximum range: 3–37 µg/m³).
Over the period 2016–2023, there was an average 28% reduction in exposure levels, mainly attributable to a decline in road traffic emissions.

Sono state elaborate le stime dell’esposizione media annuale pesata per la popolazione (Population Weighted Exposure, PWE) all’ozono (O₃) aggregata a livello comunale, mediante l’uso integrato di misure e modelli statistici. I dati ottenuti, relativi al periodo 2016-2023, permettono il confronto della PWE tra tutti i comuni e di avere un quadro completo dell’esposizione media a livello nazionale.
Nel 2023, il 100% della popolazione è stato esposto a livelli superiori al valore guida dell’OMS (60 µg/m³ come media della distribuzione dei massimi giornalieri delle medie mobili di 8 ore nel periodo che va da aprile a settembre).
La media nazionale della PWE è stata pari a 98 µg/m³ (range minimo-massimo: 55 – 124 µg/m³).
Nel periodo osservato non si rileva una tendenza alla riduzione dei livelli di esposizione.

The indicator describes the timing of the pollination period for a specific botanical family over the course of the year. The start and end dates, as well as the duration of the pollen season for a given family, vary by location due to the high sensitivity of pollination to local meteorological and climatic conditions. It is important to note that the duration of the pollen season is not directly correlated with the total amount of airborne pollen. A comparative analysis of the start and end dates of the monitored families' pollination can reveal the presence of airborne pollen, in certain locations, even during the months of January and December.

The indicator is based on atmospheric concentration data of benzo(a)pyrene measured in 2023 at monitoring stations distributed across the national territory, collected and archived by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010) and Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU. A total of 164 monitoring stations measured and reported B(a)P data. Among these, 159 provided time series with sufficient temporal coverage for the verification of reference values. Exceedances of the target value were recorded at 17 stations, corresponding to 10.7% of the cases.

The indicator is based on atmospheric ozone (O₃) concentration data measured in 2023 at monitoring stations distributed across the national territory, collected and archived by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010) and Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU. A total of 348 monitoring stations measured and reported ozone data. Of these, 326 provided data series with sufficient temporal coverage to assess compliance with threshold values and the long-term objective (LTO) for the protection of human health.

Suburban, rural, and background rural stations meeting the minimum data coverage required for the calculation of the long-term objective for vegetation protection (AOT40v) numbered 146. The LTO for human health was exceeded at 88.1% of stations. In 43.9% of the stations, this LTO was exceeded for more than 25 days.

The information threshold for health protection was exceeded at 34% of stations, while the alert threshold was exceeded at only 2 stations. The WHO reference level—set at 100 µg/m³ as the 99th percentile of daily maximum 8-hour mean concentrations—was exceeded at 313 stations (96% of those with sufficient data coverage). The long-term objective for vegetation protection (AOT40v) was exceeded at 93.2% of the stations.

The indicator Allergenic and Annual Pollen Integral considers two cumulative metrics: the Annual Pollen Integral (IPAn) and the Allergenic Pollen Integral (IPA), which quantify the total amount of airborne pollen detected over the course of a year in the locations where monitoring stations are installed. Both IPAn and IPA are subject to potentially significant local interannual variability, primarily driven by fluctuations in seasonal meteorological and climatic conditions. These are cumulative quantitative indicators and, as such, do not provide information on the temporal distribution of airborne pollen throughout the year.

The indicator is based on atmospheric PM10 concentration data measured in 2023 at monitoring stations distributed across the national territory, collected and archived by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010) and Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU. A total of 573 monitoring stations reported PM10 data. Of these, 541 provided time series with sufficient temporal coverage for validation against reference thresholds. No exceedances of the annual limit value were recorded, whereas the daily limit value was exceeded at 63 stations (equivalent to 12% of cases). Furthermore, the vast majority of monitoring stations reported exceedances of both the WHO annual reference level (91% of cases) and the daily reference level (84% of cases).

The indicator is based on nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentration data measured in 2023 at monitoring stations distributed across the national territory, collected and archived by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010) and Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU. A total of 630 monitoring stations measured and reported NO₂ data. Of these, 600 provided data series with sufficient temporal coverage to verify compliance with reference values.

The hourly limit value was respected at all stations: no exceedance of 200 µg/m³ (hourly average) for more than 18 occasions was recorded. The WHO reference value, which does not permit any exceedances of 200 µg/m³, was exceeded at 8 stations (1.3% of those with sufficient data coverage). The annual limit value, set at 40 µg/m³ (annual mean), was exceeded at 13 stations (2.2%). The WHO guideline value for long-term human health protection, set at 10 µg/m³ as an annual mean, was exceeded at 450 stations (75.0%).

The indicator is based on atmospheric PM2.5 concentration data measured in 2023 at monitoring stations distributed across the national territory, collected and archived by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010, as amended) and Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU.

A total of 334 monitoring stations measured and reported PM2.5 data. Of these, 310 provided data series with sufficient temporal coverage to assess compliance with reference values. The annual limit value for PM2.5 (25 µg/m³) was met at all stations except one, corresponding to 0.3% of cases. However, the majority of monitoring stations (99.7%) exceeded the updated WHO annual reference value of 5 µg/m³ (previously set at 10 µg/m³).

Estimates of the population-weighted annual average exposure (Population Weighted Exposure, PWE) to PM2.5 have been developed at the municipal level using an integrated approach combining measurements and statistical models. The data, covering the period 2016–2022, enable comparison of PWE across all municipalities and provide a comprehensive overview of average exposure at the national level.

In 2022, 100% of the population was exposed to levels exceeding the WHO guideline value of 5 µg/m³. The national average PWE was 14 µg/m³ (range: 6–25 µg/m³).

Between 2016 and 2022, the national average decreased from 15 µg/m³ in 2016 to 14 µg/m³ in 2022, representing a 7% reduction.