Outdoor air pollution could cause 6 to 9 million premature deaths and represent an economic cost of around $2.6 trillion a year by 2060 unless action is taken, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in a report released on Thursday.
The OECD examined the economic consequences of air pollution and found that it could cost 1 percent of gross domestic product - or $2.6 trillion a year - by 2060.
The economic cost would rise with a surge in related annual healthcare bills to $176 billion from $21 billion in 2015 and with lost work days . . .
