Deaths related to air pollution have fallen by an estimated 40% in London in the five years since 2019, according to new analysis.
The city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, welcomed “overwhelming evidence” that ultra-low emission zones save lives.
The figures come from a study by Imperial College London, which found that toxic air pollution in London had fallen significantly, with nitrogen dioxide levels falling by 41% and particulate pollution by 28%.
Imperial researchers said the latest scientific evidence shows air pollution has a greater impact on health than previously recognized, with previous estimates putting air pollution at risk for 4,000 premature deaths in 2019.
This figure has been revised upward to an estimated 6,400-8,000 premature deaths in 2019, decreasing to 3,800-5,100 in 2024.
Dr David Dajnak, from the Imperial Environmental Research Group, said: “Our research highlights two key findings: London’s air quality has improved significantly since 2019, but despite this progress, air pollution remains a serious public health risk.”
Recent evidence shows stronger links between air pollution and cardiovascular disease, dementia, diabetes and respiratory disease.
The study found that the boroughs with the highest death rates from air pollution in 2024 were in London suburbs such as Bexley, Havering and Sutton, and City Hall said this underlined the importance of Prime Minister Khan’s decision to press ahead with the expansion of Ulles across the capital in 2023 despite widespread local opposition.
Although the Imperial Independence Report itself does not name Urez or any other policy, Khan said: “The evidence is now overwhelming and incontrovertible: the bold actions we took in London reduced pollution, improved public health and saved lives.”
“This latest data shows why expanding Ulez across London is even more important than previously thought and is changing lives across the capital.”
Uress opened in central London in 2019 and expanded across the city’s boroughs in 2021.
Vehicles that do not comply with emissions standards (usually those with pre-2015 diesel engines or pre-2004 petrol) must pay a daily rate starting from £12.50 for a passenger car. Currently, the vast majority of vehicles driving in the zone, approximately 97%, are compliant.
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A study by the Greater London Authority last year showed that NO2 pollution along roads was 27% lower than expected if Ures had not been introduced.
Mr Khan is scheduled to visit a primary school in east London on Wednesday, replicating a visit he made when he was first elected in 2016, pledging to fast-track measures to clean London’s air. Other measures beyond Urez include providing £2.7 million for indoor air quality filters in 200 primary school classrooms and increasing Transport for London’s fleet of zero-emission buses from 30 to more than 3,000 over the past decade.
Professor Stephen Holgate, special adviser on air quality at the Royal College of Physicians, said the scale of improvement shown in the study was “very encouraging” and “a powerful reminder that decisive and sustained action can deliver real and measurable benefits to people’s health”.
Jemima Hartshorn, from Mums for Lungs, said research showed that ureth did contribute to cleaner air, but added: “More than 100,000 children in London will be taken to hospital with respiratory problems in 2024, and other cities and regions are becoming even more polluted. Londoners need to do more, and so does the rest of the country.”
