Muscat: If fresh air is what you look for when booking a holiday or finding somewhere new to live, then the Sultanate is officially the best place on the planet.
Oman has been ranked as one of the least polluted countries in Asia, behind Singapore and Japan.

According to numbeo.com, Singapore tops the list with a pollution index of 32.06, followed by Japan 36.78, Oman 37.80, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (52.99) and Cyprus (53.75).
In the Middle East, Oman is ranked first followed by the UAE, Cyprus, Armenia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In the GCC, Oman and the UAE are followed by Qatar (61.62), Saudi Arabia (66.07), Kuwait (70.20) and Bahrain (70.61).
Air Pollution (34.33), drinking water pollution and inaccessibility (28.33), dissatisfaction with garbage disposal (32.76), dirty and untidy (23.36), noise and light pollution (39.17), water pollution (38.60), dissatisfaction to spend time in the city (26.21) and dissatisfaction with greenery and parks in the city (29.24) are low in Oman.
Meanwhile, the level of purity and cleanliness of air (65.67), drinking water quality and accessibility (71.67), garbage disposal satisfaction (67.24), clean and tidy (76.64), quiet and no problem with night lights (60.83), water quality (61.40), comfortable to spend time in the city (73.79), and quality of green and parks (70.76) are said to be high in the Sultanate.

Air pollution is a far bigger killer than many people realise, causing more than three million premature deaths worldwide every year. Global pollution levels are on the rise, and while some countries are blazing a trail in tackling it, others have done little to stop it ruining lives. According to World Health Organisation, toxic air kills 7 million people a year.