India has been ranked 176th out of 177 countries in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2026, placing it second from the bottom of the global environmental ranking.
India recorded an overall EPI score of 22.46, according to the 2026 assessment. Only Laos ranked lower, at 177th. Estonia emerged as the world’s top-performing country with a score of 74.79.
The 2026 Environmental Performance Index evaluates 177 countries using 47 environmental indicators grouped into 12 issue categories. The assessment broadly examines environmental health, ecosystem vitality and climate change.
What Is the Environmental Performance Index?
The Environmental Performance Index, commonly known as EPI, is a global environmental assessment that compares countries on their performance across major environmental challenges.
The 2026 edition measures countries using 47 indicators covering areas associated with:
- Environmental health
- Air quality
- Sanitation and drinking water
- Waste management
- Biodiversity and habitat
- Ecosystem vitality
- Climate change
- Greenhouse-gas emissions
- Energy and environmental policy
The index is designed to provide a comparative picture of how countries are performing on environmental sustainability and related public-health and ecological challenges.
The index is created by the,
- Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy (YCELP)
- Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)
- Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions
India’s EPI 2026 Score and Rank
India’s overall position in the 2026 EPI is:
| Parameter | India |
|---|---|
| Global Rank | 176th |
| Countries Assessed | 177 |
| EPI Score | 22.46 |
| 10-Year Change | 7.47 |
| Regional Rank | 8th in Southern Asia |
| Southern Asia Regional Average | 31.81 |
According to the official EPI data, India is ranked 174th in Environmental Health and 175th in Air Quality. Its overall ecosystem and climate-related indicators also contribute to the country’s low overall position.
India’s Environmental Health Performance
- India’s Environmental Health rank is 174th, with a score of 15.13.
- The Environmental Health component includes indicators connected with air pollution, sanitation, drinking water and other environmental factors that can affect human health.
- India’s Air Quality rank is 175th, with a score of 7.89.
- Some of the individual indicators show considerable variation. For example, India’s NO₂ exposure indicator ranks considerably better than several other air-quality measures, while its carbon monoxide and PM2.5-related indicators remain major areas of concern in the EPI assessment.
India’s Ecosystem and Climate Performance
- The EPI does not measure environmental performance solely through air pollution.
- It also considers ecosystem vitality, biodiversity and habitat protection, as well as climate-related indicators.
- India’s results therefore provide a broader picture of environmental performance than a single air-quality statistic.
- One notable result is India’s carbon flux from land-use change, for which the country receives a score of 100 and ranks first on that specific indicator in the 2026 dataset.
- This illustrates why the overall EPI score should not be interpreted as saying that every environmental indicator in India performs poorly. The index is an aggregate measure combining many different indicators.
Which Country Topped the EPI 2026 Ranking?
Estonia occupies the No. 1 position in the 2026 Environmental Performance Index with a score of 74.79.
The top 10 countries are:
| Rank | Country | EPI Score |
| 1 | Estonia | 74.79 |
| 2 | Luxembourg | 74.24 |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 71.51 |
| 4 | Finland | 71.04 |
| 5 | Netherlands | 70.49 |
| 6 | Germany | 69.93 |
| 7 | France | 69.82 |
| 8 | Norway | 69.24 |
| 9 | Sweden | 69.20 |
| 10 | Austria | 66.80 |
The official EPI ranking shows a strong concentration of European countries near the top of the 2026 table.
India’s Position in South Asia
India ranks 8th among the eight countries listed for Southern Asia in the 2026 EPI.
The regional ranking is:
| Regional Rank | Country | Global Rank | EPI Score |
| 1 | Bhutan | 52 | 47.74 |
| 2 | Sri Lanka | 94 | 39.58 |
| 3 | Nepal | 128 | 33.99 |
| 4 | Afghanistan | 135 | 33.14 |
| 5 | Pakistan | 157 | 29.03 |
| 6 | Maldives | 171 | 25.06 |
| 7 | Bangladesh | 175 | 23.46 |
| 8 | India | 176 | 22.46 |
The Southern Asia regional average is 31.81, meaning India’s overall EPI score is below the regional average.
India’s EPI Rank: 2024 vs 2026
- India’s position should also be viewed in the context of earlier EPI editions.
- In the 2024 EPI, India ranked 176th out of 180 countries.
- In 2026, it remains at 176th, but the number of countries assessed has changed to 177.
- India’s 2026 score is 22.46, compared with its 2024 score of 27.6 under the previous edition’s methodology and dataset.
- Because the EPI methodology, indicators and country coverage can change between editions, rankings and scores from different years should not automatically be treated as a perfectly like-for-like time series.
What Does the EPI 2026 Mean for India?
- India’s position at 176th highlights the continuing challenge of balancing economic development, public health, energy demand and environmental sustainability.
- As one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing major economies, India’s environmental performance has implications beyond its domestic environmental policy.
- Improvements in air quality, sanitation, waste management, biodiversity protection and emissions management could have significant public-health and ecological benefits.
- At the same time, the EPI should be interpreted as a comparative index, not as a complete measurement of every aspect of India’s environmental performance.
- The official dataset itself shows that India performs much better on some individual indicators than its overall rank might suggest.
Click Here to Read: NITI Aayog Investment Friendliness Index 2026: Gujarat Tops Rankings