IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i5p1796-d1595765.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Air Pollution Aggravate Health Problems in Low-Income Countries? Verification from Countries Along the Belt and Road

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaocang Xu

    (School of Economics and Management/Institute of Sustainable Development, Huzhou University, Huzhou 313000, China)

  • Yanglin Zhong

    (School of Economics and Management/Institute of Sustainable Development, Huzhou University, Huzhou 313000, China)

  • Shuangshuang Cai

    (School of Economics and Management/Institute of Sustainable Development, Huzhou University, Huzhou 313000, China)

  • Lei Lei

    (School of Economics and Management/Institute of Sustainable Development, Huzhou University, Huzhou 313000, China)

  • Jian Peng

    (College of Philosophy Law & Political Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China)

Abstract

Goal 8 of the Sustainable Development Goals aims to promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth. However, most of the countries along the Belt and Road are low-income countries in the initial stages of industrialization, which are also facing serious air pollution and health problems while promoting economic growth. This is also a fact that both China and its partner countries along the Belt and Road need to take into account when it comes to economic cooperation between China and countries along the Belt and Road. This review selected 91 papers from academic databases such as CNKI, Web of Science and Sci-hub from 2013 to 2024 to analyze the impact of air pollution on health in countries along the Belt and Road and compared it with countries not along the Belt and Road. The paper makes the following findings: First, air pollution is very harmful to general health and has produced specific diseases related to lung function and children’s respiratory health in countries along the Belt and Road, similar to countries not along the Belt and Road. Second, mortality, mental health, and related health expenditures result from higher air pollution in Belt and Road countries more so than in non-Belt and Road countries. Therefore, when China conducts economic cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road, it should take the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) as the direction and fully consider local environmental pollution, social and economic issues, and health issues to ensure the long-term sustainable economic growth of the Belt and Road in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaocang Xu & Yanglin Zhong & Shuangshuang Cai & Lei Lei & Jian Peng, 2025. "Does Air Pollution Aggravate Health Problems in Low-Income Countries? Verification from Countries Along the Belt and Road," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-21, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:1796-:d:1595765
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/1796/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/1796/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Badulescu & Ramona Simut & Alina Badulescu & Andrei-Vlad Badulescu, 2019. "The Relative Effects of Economic Growth, Environmental Pollution and Non-Communicable Diseases on Health Expenditures in European Union Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Xiaocang Xu & Haoran Yang & Chang Li, 2022. "Theoretical Model and Actual Characteristics of Air Pollution Affecting Health Cost: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-14, March.
    3. Thaddaeus Egondi & Catherine Kyobutungi & Nawi Ng & Kanyiva Muindi & Samuel Oti & Steven Van de Vijver & Remare Ettarh & Joacim Rocklöv, 2013. "Community Perceptions of Air Pollution and Related Health Risks in Nairobi Slums," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-18, October.
    4. Duncan Lee & Alastair Rushworth & Sujit K. Sahu, 2014. "A Bayesian localized conditional autoregressive model for estimating the health effects of air pollution," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 70(2), pages 419-429, June.
    5. Antonis Analitis & Francesca De’ Donato & Matteo Scortichini & Timo Lanki & Xavier Basagana & Ferran Ballester & Christopher Astrom & Anna Paldy & Mathilde Pascal & Antonio Gasparrini & Paola Micheloz, 2018. "Synergistic Effects of Ambient Temperature and Air Pollution on Health in Europe: Results from the PHASE Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-11, August.
    6. Pier Mannuccio Mannucci & Massimo Franchini, 2017. "Health Effects of Ambient Air Pollution in Developing Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1, September.
    7. Radim J. Sram, 2020. "Impact of Air Pollution on the Health of the Population in Parts of the Czech Republic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-13, September.
    8. Wang, Qiang & Kwan, Mei-Po & Zhou, Kan & Fan, Jie & Wang, Yafei & Zhan, Dongsheng, 2019. "Impacts of residential energy consumption on the health burden of household air pollution: Evidence from 135 countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 284-295.
    9. Hitiris, Theo & Posnett, John, 1992. "The determinants and effects of health expenditure in developed countries," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 173-181, August.
    10. Yuanfang Du & Shibing You, 2022. "Interaction among Air Pollution, National Health, and Economic Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, December.
    11. Zhiming Yang & Zhen Wang & Xiao-Chen Yuan & Yu Qi & Yunquan Zhang & Weiqing Wang & Fanglin He & Jing Li, 2022. "Does income inequality aggravate the impacts of air pollution on physical health? Evidence from China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 2120-2144, February.
    12. Heli Lehtomäki & Antti Korhonen & Arja Asikainen & Niko Karvosenoja & Kaarle Kupiainen & Ville-Veikko Paunu & Mikko Savolahti & Mikhail Sofiev & Yuliia Palamarchuk & Ari Karppinen & Jaakko Kukkonen & , 2018. "Health Impacts of Ambient Air Pollution in Finland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, April.
    13. Younoh Kim & Vlad Radoias, 2022. "Severe Air Pollution Exposure and Long-Term Health Outcomes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-8, October.
    14. Yu Liu & Ke Zhu & Rong-Lin Li & Yang Song & Zhi-Jiang Zhang, 2021. "Air Pollution Impairs Subjective Happiness by Damaging Their Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-9, September.
    15. Idiano D’Adamo & Cristina Di Carlo & Massimo Gastaldi & Edouard Nicolas Rossi & Antonio Felice Uricchio, 2024. "Economic Performance, Environmental Protection and Social Progress: A Cluster Analysis Comparison towards Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-24, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xiaocang Xu & Haoran Yang & Chang Li, 2022. "Theoretical Model and Actual Characteristics of Air Pollution Affecting Health Cost: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Bo Sun & Bo Wang, 2021. "Spatial Spillover Effects of Air Pollution on the Health Expenditure of Rural Residents: Based on Spatial Durbin Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-11, July.
    3. Sanmarchi Francesco & Esposito Francesco & Bucci Andrea & Toscano Fabrizio & Golinelli Davide, 2021. "Association between Economic Growth, Mortality, and Healthcare Spending in 31 High-Income Countries," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 24(2), pages 101-118, December.
    4. K. Shuvo Bakar & Nicholas Biddle & Philip Kokic & Huidong Jin, 2020. "A Bayesian spatial categorical model for prediction to overlapping geographical areas in sample surveys," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 183(2), pages 535-563, February.
    5. Kathleen Cleeren & Lien Lamey & Jan‐Hinrich Meyer & Ko De Ruyter, 2016. "How Business Cycles Affect the Healthcare Sector: A Cross‐country Investigation," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(7), pages 787-800, July.
    6. Xiang Wu & Lindong Liu & Xiaowei Luo & Jianwu Chen & Jingwen Dai, 2018. "Study on Flow Field Characteristics of the 90° Rectangular Elbow in the Exhaust Hood of a Uniform Push–Pull Ventilation Device," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Myung-Jae Hwang & Jong-Hun Kim & Hae-Kwan Cheong, 2020. "Short-Term Impacts of Ambient Air Pollution on Health-Related Quality of Life: A Korea Health Panel Survey Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Fabio Pammolli & Francesco Porcelli & Francesco Vidoli & Monica Auteri & Guido Borà, 2017. "La spesa sanitaria delle Regioni in Italia - Saniregio2017," Working Papers CERM 01-2017, Competitività, Regole, Mercati (CERM).
    9. Becchetti, Leonardo & Conzo, Pierluigi & Salustri, Francesco, 2017. "The impact of health expenditure on the number of chronic diseases," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(9), pages 955-962.
    10. Ke Chen & Boyang Cao & Xinning Pan & Yang Wang & Dan He, 2025. "Study on the Influence of the Ecological Environment on the Subjective Well-Being of Farmers Around Nature Reserves: Mediating Effects Based on Environmental Cognition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-21, February.
    11. Hsin-Pei Hsueh & Chien-Ming Wang & Cheng-Feng Wu & Fangjhy Li, 2019. "Investigation of the Co-Movement Relationship between Medical Expenditure and GDP in Taiwan-Based on Wavelet Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-9, December.
    12. M. M. Fasoranti, 2015. "An Econometric Analysis of the Determinants of Government Health Expenditures in Nigeria," Journal of Empirical Economics, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 4(4), pages 193-206.
    13. Murat Gündüz, 2020. "Healthcare expenditure and carbon footprint in the USA: evidence from hidden cointegration approach," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(5), pages 801-811, July.
    14. Chen, Lu & Li, Xin & Liu, Wei & Kang, Xinyu & Zhao, Yifei & Wang, Minxi, 2024. "System dynamics-multiple the objective optimization model for the coordinated development of urban economy-energy-carbon system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 371(C).
    15. Shreosi Sanyal & Thierry Rochereau & Cara Nichole Maesano & Laure Com-Ruelle & Isabella Annesi-Maesano, 2018. "Long-Term Effect of Outdoor Air Pollution on Mortality and Morbidity: A 12-Year Follow-Up Study for Metropolitan France," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-8, November.
    16. Felipa de Mello-Sampayo & Sofia de Sousa-Vale, 2014. "Financing Health Care Expenditure in the OECD Countries: Evidence from a Heterogeneous, Cross-Sectional Dependent Panel," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 61(2), pages 207-225, March.
    17. Wang, Jianlong & Wu, Haitao & Liu, Yong & Wang, Weilong, 2024. "Health welfare in the digital era: Exploring the impact of digital trade on residents' health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    18. Abbas, Faisal & Hiemenz, Ulrich, 2011. "Determinants of Public Health expenditures in Pakistan," Discussion Papers 118422, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    19. Tomasz Rokicki & Aleksandra Perkowska & Marcin Ratajczak, 2020. "Differentiation in Healthcare Financing in EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    20. Moscone, F. & Tosetti, E., 2010. "Testing for error cross section independence with an application to US health expenditure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 283-291, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:1796-:d:1595765. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.