Air quality comparison · Turkey, 520 km apart
Ankara vs İzmir Air quality index (AQI) today
İzmir has cleaner air than Ankara right now: AQI 113 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 127 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, İzmir averaged AQI 59 against 72, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. İzmir has lost more forest since 2001. Ankara has more tree cover.
Turkey
AQI 127
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 46.1 µg/m³3.1× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 19:00 local
Turkey
AQI 113
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 40.2 µg/m³2.7× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 19:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Ankara127İzmir113
Head to head
Ankara vs İzmir at a glance
Ankara and İzmir are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Ankara | İzmir | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 127 | 113 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 46.1 | 40.2 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 72 | 59 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 8 ha (better) | 471 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 22.0% (better) | 9.6% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 40.7K (better) | 70.6K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Ankara and İzmir right now?
İzmir has cleaner air than Ankara right now: AQI 113 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 127 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Ankara's PM2.5 is about 3.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. İzmir's PM2.5 is about 2.7× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
Ankaraİzmir
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).
Ankara: Ground station · Sıhhıye, Turkey, 900 m away · median of 7 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Turkey National Air Quality Monitoring Network (Ulusal Hava Kalitesi İzleme Ağı).
İzmir: Ground station · Konak, Turkey, 1.7 km away · median of 6 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Turkey National Air Quality Monitoring Network (Ulusal Hava Kalitesi İzleme Ağı).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, İzmir averaged AQI 59 against 72, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 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
- Ankara1İzmir6
- Average AQI
- Ankara72İzmir59
- Worst day, AQI
- Ankara111İzmir85
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Ankara | İzmir |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 69 | 54 |
| Nov 5 | 58 | 52 |
| Nov 6 | 67 | 52 |
| Nov 7 | 61 | 53 |
| Nov 8 | 58 | 47 |
| Nov 9 | 111 | 73 |
| Nov 10 | 80 | 85 |
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 Ankara and İzmir today?
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. Both are in the same EPA band today (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
Windows
Close them to keep the outside air out.
Masks
Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
Run one, especially in bedrooms.
Against everywhere else
How do Ankara and İzmir compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Ankara's air is cleaner than 14% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and İzmir's is cleaner than 18%. Within Turkey, that is 10% and 18% of its 95 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Ankara
- Beats 14%
- İzmir
- Beats 18%
More tree cover than…
- Ankara
- Beats 51%
- İzmir
- Beats 20%
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, Ankara or İzmir?
İzmir has lost more: about 471 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 8 ha around Ankara. 88 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: 2012, with 2 ha lost.
Worst year: 2025, with 93 ha lost.
| Ankara | İzmir | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 8 ha (better) | 471 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 2.7% (better) | 24% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 7 ha (better) | 88 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (70%) | Wildfires (42%) |
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.
Ankara
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
İzmir
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Ankara or İzmir?
Ankara has more tree cover: 22.0% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.6% around İzmir, or about 68,839 trees against 26,691.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Ankara | İzmir | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 68.8K (better) | 26.7K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 40.7K (better) | 70.6K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.5M kg (better) | 587K 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
Ankara vs İzmir: your questions answered
Is İzmir cleaner than Ankara?
On air quality, yes, right now: İzmir reads AQI 113 against 127, a gap of 14 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, İzmir averaged AQI 59 against 72, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Ankara and İzmir today?
The advice is the same for both today. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. Ankara reads AQI 127 and İzmir reads AQI 113.
Which has lost more forest, Ankara or İzmir?
İzmir has lost more: about 471 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 8 ha around Ankara. 88 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Ankara or İzmir?
Ankara has more tree cover: 22.0% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.6% around İzmir, or about 68,839 trees against 26,691. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Ankara and İzmir need?
Ankara needs about 40,677 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and İzmir about 70,620 to reach 35%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Ankara and İzmir 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 come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Ankara vs İzmir 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 12, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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