Official stats show ULEZ is clearing up air for Londoners
New government data released this week has revealed how ULEZ has helped London’s air quality, particularly in terms of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂).
The latest statistics show London’s NO₂ levels are now within legal limits – with the likes of Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Coventry/Bedworth and the West Midlands Urban Area (Birmingham) exceeding the annual mean limit for NO₂ in 2024 (40 µg m-3).
The statistics, compiled by DEFRA, cover other types of pollution besides NO₂, and the report underlines the sometimes overlooked yet obvious points on the topic: “Clean air is vital for people’s health and the environment, essential for making sure our cities are welcoming places for people to live and work now and in the future, and for our prosperity. Improving air quality remains a key priority for the UK. It is therefore important to monitor levels of air pollution.
“The UK is legally required to take all necessary measures not entailing disproportionate costs to meet the target values.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “This means that almost 10 million people are now breathing cleaner air, fewer children are growing up with stunted lungs and fewer people will have to suffer from asthma, dementia and heart disease, which means big savings for the NHS.”
Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Research Group, Imperial College London said: “London’s compliance with the UK’s annual mean nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) limit value in 2024 marks a truly remarkable turnaround for the city’s air quality. Just five years ago, research we undertook estimated it could take nearly two centuries to reach this milestone without decisive action. Thanks to the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and Mayor Khan’s other ambitious traffic management policies, London has achieved in a few years what was once thought impossible. While five other UK locations are still working towards compliance, London’s success demonstrates the power of bold, evidence-based interventions to deliver cleaner air. We are now on the right path for pushing on and meeting the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) NO₂ guideline by 2030 which will achieve better health for all who live in this great city.”
Sarah Sleet, CEO at Asthma + Lung UK, said: “This is an important step in the fight for Londoners to breathe clean air, and it’s great that this milestone has been reached ahead of target. It’s particularly significant for the 600,000 people living with a lung condition in Greater London and will help prevent the appallingly high rates of emergency admissions for respiratory conditions – around 100,000 in 2024/25 – as well as premature deaths.”
Defra splits the UK into 43 zones, with 38 meeting the annual mean limit value for NO2 (40 µg m-3) in 2024.
Defra filled in some of the historic data: “The year 2020 saw a large reduction in the number of zones exceeding the annual mean limit value: just five zones exceeded in 2020 compared to 33 zones in 2019. This was attributed to the reduced road traffic flows brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions. In the following year, 2021, 10 zones exceeded this limit value. In 2022, nine zones exceeded this limit value, and in 2023 also, nine zones exceeded this limit value. In 2024 the number of zones exceeding this limit value reduced further, to five.”
There’s a lot more detail in the Defra report.
