Air pollution is growing worse in urban areas across much of the globe, hitting the poorest city dwellers hardest and contributing to a wide range of potentially life-shortening health problems, including heart disease and severe asthma, according to the World Health Organization.

New data released by the organization on Thursday detailed how 4 in 5 residents of cities with reliable measurements face levels of particulate air pollution that exceed what the WHO recommends. While the problem is playing out in cities around the world, poorer countries are suffering most.

The WHO said 98 percent of urban areas in ‘‘low- and middle-income countries’’ with populations of more than 100,000 fall shy of the group’s air-quality standards.

‘‘Urban air pollution continues to rise at an alarming rate, wreaking havoc on human health,’’ Maria Neira, director of WHO’s department of public health, environment and social determinants of health, said in a statement.

The figures released Thursday were part of an updated WHO global database of air pollution for cities and smaller human settlements across the world. The database covers 3,000 cities, towns and villages in 103 countries, listing levels of particulate matter in the air.

Washington Post