»Pollution Deaths in India Rose to 1.7 Million in 2019 Leading to Losses Worth 1.4% of GDP: Lancet Report 2-MIN READ Pollution Deaths in India Rose to 1.7 Million in 2019 Leading to Losses Worth 1.4% of GDP: Lancet Report Representative image. India, whose cities top global pollution lists, faces a growing economic as well as human toll from bad air quality, which was linked to 1.24 million, or 12.5% of total deaths in the previous such study for 2017. FOLLOW US ON: The economic loss due to premature deaths and morbidity from air pollution was Rs 2.6 crore or 1.4 per cent of the GDP in India in 2019, according to a new scientific paper. It also said that 1.7 million deaths (18 per cent of the total deaths) in the country were attributable to air pollution last year.