Why Ho Chi Minh City’s air quality is deteriorating

With 12 million cars and motorbikes, a slew of transportation and urban development projects and outdated waste-treatment technologies, Ho Chi Minh City’s air is becoming increasingly polluted, experts warn.

According to the 2025 Environmental Quality, Water Resources Monitoring, and Emission Source Supervision Program released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the city’s air quality has deteriorated in recent years mainly due to fine dust pollution and noise pollution is also worsening.

Concentrations of total suspended particulates and PM10 fine dust have been rising, particularly in areas with heavy traffic and near industrial zones, seaports and mining sites.

The assessments are based on data from 118 monitoring locations, 36 in Ho Chi Minh City, 29 in Binh Duong and 53 in Ba Ria–Vung Tau.

PM2.5, or ultrafine particles that directly harm human health, exceeded permitted standards by 1.1 to 4.6 times at several traffic and industrial locations the last year, after being within allowable limits even last year.

Noise pollution too surpassed permissible levels at certain locations.

But the report shows that the city’s daily Air Quality Index remained mostly at « good » levels, accounting for 56–87% of days during the year. Days rated « poor » made up 4–1%; only one day was classified as « unhealthy » and none reached « very unhealthy » or « hazardous » levels.

Pham Binh An, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, said improving air quality requires clearly identifying emission sources.

He said « only by accurately pinpointing pollution hotspots and implementing coordinated policies, infrastructure investments, technological solutions, and behavioral changes can improvements be sustained. »

He identified three main sources of emissions: transportation, construction–industry activities and waste.

The city has more than 12 million private cars and motorbikes (excluding the number for the former Binh Duong and Ba Ria – Vung Tau provinces, which merged with the city this year).

Vehicles powered by fossil fuels emit fine dust, benzene and other toxic gases and also generate noise.

Given the high density, traffic is arguably the single biggest source of air pollution.

Meanwhile, the city has become one massive construction site, with various infrastructure, housing, urban, and industrial projects underway.

Construction and manufacturing activities generate large volumes of dust and emissions.

The third major source is waste, with the city generating 14,000 tons of garbage daily, most of which is still disposed at landfills.

This releases methane and hydrogen sulfide, posing risks of secondary pollution and causing odors.

Pham Viet Thuan, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Economics Environmental and Resources, said fine dust pollution is increasing but remains localized.

He attributed the high levels of fine dust to the city’s simultaneous execution of several major projects such as Ring Road 3 and other key infrastructure works.

He said construction activities generate dust, raising fine-particle concentrations in areas near worksites, especially during hot weather.

Many monitoring stations are located close to construction zones, and even minor weather phenomena such as gusty winds that disperse dust, leading monitoring systems to record high readings and issue warnings.

He said air pollution becomes truly alarming only when indicators such as PM, SO2 and CO2 exceed permissible thresholds continuously for extended periods such as 90 days a year.

Short-term increases driven by weather conditions and localized factors should not be considered an emergency, he said.

An, despite describing the situation as « not overly pessimistic, » said the current signs serve as a warning for the city to act early to safeguard people’s quality of life.

Given its large number of private vehicles, it has considered solutions like developing green transportation, increasing the low share of public transport and transitioning to clean-energy vehicles such as electric and hybrid cars, he said.

Under the roadmap to 2030 government vehicles and ride-hailing fleets are expected to lead the transition to create a spillover effect, he said.

But he emphasized that such a transition would only be effective if infrastructure is developed in parallel — charging stations, battery-swap facilities — and there are supportive financial policies rather than relying solely on administrative measures.

For construction and urbanization, regulations already exist, but admittedly the challenges lie in enforcement and penalties, he said.

The city needs to strengthen inspections, severely punish environmental violations and promote eco-industrial parks, green buildings and low-emission materials, he said.

As for waste, under the circular-economy approach, garbage should be treated as a resource, and requires source separation, accelerating waste-to-energy incineration projects and gradually reducing landfilling, he said.

Clear financial mechanisms are needed to encourage businesses to invest in modern technologies, he pointed out.

He also supported proposals to install nearly 160 additional air-quality monitoring points, integrating smart monitoring sensors and satellite data to build pollution maps by area, time and season.

« A mobile app that alerts users to air quality by location is entirely feasible once sufficient data is available. »

Experts agreed that air pollution is not only an inner-city issue but requires a regional approach, particularly as nearby industrial zones continue to expand. Interprovincial coordination and changes in public behavior, from commuting and consumption to waste sorting, are seen as critical to reducing emissions and ensuring quality of life.

By Le Tuyet & Giang Anh – VnExpress.net – December 22, 2025