On October 30 we reported that October 29 was Delhi's coldest October day in four years, with rain pulling the daily AQI down to 133. The figures in this report are the complete month-end data released after October closed — the monthly average, the year's day count and the final weather records. Read the earlier coldest-day report
NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded its lowest average Air Quality Index (AQI) for October in eight years in 2026, according to data released by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on October 31. The capital's October average AQI stood at 166, improving from 223 in October 2025 and 234 in October 2024. The official series shows October averages of 219 in 2023, 210 in 2022, 173 in 2021, 265 in 2020, 234 in 2019 and 269 in 2018.
Source: PIB, via NewsAge
For the January 1 to October 31 period, Delhi's average AQI was 167, lower than 170 in 2025, 184 in 2024 and 172 in 2023, the PIB data showed. The capital recorded 220 days in the 'good to moderate' categories — days when the daily average AQI stayed below 200 — which, excluding the Covid year 2020, was the highest count since 2018. Days in the 'poor to severe-plus' categories, when the daily average crossed 200, stood at 84 in the same period. The average PM2.5 concentration from January 1 to October 29 was 69 micrograms per cubic metre, according to the release, which noted that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) is working with stakeholders to control air pollution in Delhi-NCR.
Source: PIB, via NewsAge
A separate analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), reported by PTI, put October's average AQI at 167 — the lowest for the month since 2015, on data available since that year. CREA counted five 'poor' days, three 'satisfactory' days and 22 'moderate' days in the month up to October 30. The AQI fell to 60 on October 30, the cleanest October day since October 10, 2022, when it was 44, and the month's highest reading of 245 was the lowest monthly peak since 2015, the analysis said.
Source: PTI / CREA, via Swadesi
Weather did much of the work. Delhi received 123.3 mm of rainfall till the morning of October 30 — its wettest October in four years and the fourth highest since 1954 — and on October 30 the maximum temperature at Safdarjung fell to 20.7 degrees Celsius, 10.3 degrees below normal and the lowest October maximum since 1951, PTI reported. CREA analyst Manoj Kumar cautioned that the October average was still 1.5 times higher than September's, and that meteorological conditions must be accounted for before attributing the improvement to pollution-control measures such as the Graded Response Action Plan. Sources: Press Information Bureau data released on October 31, and PTI reporting CREA's analysis.
Source: PTI / CREA, via Swadesi