The bar charts illustrate the number of people affected by four different noise sources of pollution during the day and night in cities and rural areas in the year 2007.
Overall, traffic was the primary source of noise pollution, while industry had the lowest figure. Notably, noise pollution levels during the day were consistently higher than at night.
In cities, traffic affected most people, accounting for 64 million citizens during the day and 48 million at night. Meanwhile, in rural areas, the number of people affected was 34 million and 24 million, respectively, much lower than that in cities. Trains were the second most common source of noise pollution in cities, affecting 10 million people during the day and 8 million at night. In suburbs, however, the number of people affected was slightly lower than that in cities, with 8 million and 6 million during the daytime and at night.
As for the remaining sources, aircraft noise impacted 4 million people in cities and 2 million in rural areas during the daytime, while at night, affected citizens had a drop to 1 million in both areas. Finally, industry recorded the lowest numbers in both areas, affecting only 1 million and 0.25 million people during the daytime and the night, while its impact on rural areas was zero.