This week Zagreb was the second to last city in the European Union on air quality and the only country ranking worse than Croatia was Bulgaria, the Jutarnji List daily wrote on Thursday.

In Zagreb, the air quality index was 154 on Monday and 130 on Tuesday, making the Croatian capital the 30th most polluted city in the world. Croatia ranked second among the EU member states, with Bulgaria topping the list as the most polluted EU country, according to Jutarnji List.

At the same time, Brussels had an air quality index of 19, Paris of 15 and Berlin of just 4. Globally, the highest indices were recorded in Kyrgyzstan (421) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (338).

Last year, Croatia ranked 51st globally and was among the EU countries with the highest levels of air pollution.

in Croatia, air pollution generally increases in the winter time as a result of increased emissions from heating, and in part as a result of weather conditions. The geographical position of a city also plays a role, with cities located in areas surrounded by mountains or hills facing a greater likelihood of air pollution, the newspaper said quoting Gordana Pehnec of the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Medicine.