•Imposition of restriction on people movement plays a vital role in global air quality concentration levels.•The concentration of major air pollutants was measured during lockdown period and compared with previous years.•There is a significant reduction in Annual monthly average of air pollutants concentration due to impact of COVID-19.•The outbreak of COVID-19 around the globe was assessed. It is well known that pandemics not only change people's social habits but have also changed most activities related to energy consumption, especially industry and transport. Over the past year, a plethora of case studies have been published mapping the environmental impacts in specific locations in terms of changes in wastewater composition, noise, solar radiation and more. However, policymakers are demanding a global perspective and are looking for a synthesis of all these reports that will indicate whether, or to what extent, these changes interact with global climate change. The most urgent question is whether artificially inducing such a pandemic could be justified, given the loss of human life and economic losses. Robust analysis on air pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, NOx, SO2, CO, O3 and NH3 confirmed significant improvement in air quality indicators especially in India and China. The study indicates that key hypotheses can be confirmed or refuted, but further measurements are needed.