Air quality comparison · Egypt, 180 km apart
Alexandria vs Cairo Air quality index (AQI) today
Alexandria has cleaner air than Cairo right now: AQI 94 (Moderate) against 174 (Unhealthy).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Alexandria averaged AQI 39 against 64, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Alexandria has lost more forest since 2001. Alexandria has more tree cover.
Egypt
AQI 94
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 30 µg/m³2.0× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 12:00 local
Egypt
AQI 174
Unhealthy
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 97.7 µg/m³6.5× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 07:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Alexandria94Cairo174
Head to head
Alexandria vs Cairo at a glance
Alexandria is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Cairo on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Alexandria | Cairo | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 94 (better) | 174 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 30 (better) | 97.7 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 39 (better) | 64 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 19 ha | 4 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 3.9% (better) | 1.3% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 64.6K (better) | 122K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Alexandria and Cairo right now?
Alexandria has cleaner air than Cairo right now: AQI 94 (Moderate) against 174 (Unhealthy). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Alexandria's PM2.5 is about 2.0× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Cairo's PM2.5 is about 6.5× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
AlexandriaCairo
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Alexandria: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 205 km, e.g. Obour and New Cairo 1. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 205 km, US EPA index.
Cairo: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 45 km, e.g. New Cairo 1 and Obour. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 45 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Alexandria averaged AQI 39 against 64, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Alexandria7Cairo0
- Average AQI
- Alexandria39Cairo64
- Worst day, AQI
- Alexandria46Cairo83
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Alexandria | Cairo |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 42 | 83 |
| Nov 6 | 46 | 63 |
| Nov 7 | 33 | 54 |
| Nov 8 | 36 | 59 |
| Nov 9 | 38 | 65 |
| Nov 10 | 43 | 53 |
| Nov 11 | 38 | 69 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Alexandria and Cairo today?
Alexandria (AQI 94, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Cairo (AQI 174, Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Exercise outdoors
- Alexandria
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Cairo
- Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it.
Windows
- Alexandria
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Cairo
- Keep them closed.
Masks
- Alexandria
- Not needed for most people.
- Cairo
- Wear an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
- Alexandria
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Cairo
- Run one.
Against everywhere else
How do Alexandria and Cairo compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Alexandria's air is cleaner than 23% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Cairo's is cleaner than 6%. Within Egypt, that is 52% and 27% of its 65 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Alexandria
- Beats 23%
- Cairo
- Beats 6%
More tree cover than…
- Alexandria
- Beats 8%
- Cairo
- Beats 3%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Alexandria or Cairo?
Alexandria has lost more: about 19 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 4 ha around Cairo. 11 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2008, with 3 ha lost.
Worst year: 2002, with 2 ha lost.
| Alexandria | Cairo | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 19 ha | 4 ha (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 11 ha | 2 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (37%) | Towns and roads (66%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Alexandria
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Cairo
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Alexandria or Cairo?
Alexandria has more tree cover: 3.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.3% around Cairo, or about 9,655 trees against 4,084.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Alexandria | Cairo | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 9.7K (better) | 4.1K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 64.6K (better) | 122K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 212K kg (better) | 89.8K kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Alexandria vs Cairo: your questions answered
Is Alexandria cleaner than Cairo?
On air quality, yes, right now: Alexandria reads AQI 94 against 174, a gap of 80 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Alexandria averaged AQI 39 against 64, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Alexandria and Cairo today?
In Alexandria, at AQI 94: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Cairo, at AQI 174: Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Which has lost more forest, Alexandria or Cairo?
Alexandria has lost more: about 19 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 4 ha around Cairo. 11 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Alexandria or Cairo?
Alexandria has more tree cover: 3.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.3% around Cairo, or about 9,655 trees against 4,084. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Alexandria and Cairo need?
Alexandria needs about 64,613 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Cairo about 121,580 to reach 40%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Alexandria and Cairo measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Alexandria vs Cairo comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 17, 2026 and Sep 19, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare Alexandria with somewhere else
This place
Alexandria