Air quality comparison · Belgium, 51 km apart
Antwerp vs Gent Air quality index (AQI) today
Antwerp has cleaner air than Gent right now: AQI 60 (Moderate) against 65 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Gent averaged AQI 80 against 85, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Antwerp has lost more forest since 2001. Gent has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Antwerp60Gent65
Head to head
Antwerp vs Gent at a glance
Gent is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Antwerp on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Antwerp | Gent | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 60 (better) | 65 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 13.8 (better) | 16.4 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 85 | 80 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 204 ha | 108 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 16.2% | 20.8% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 35.6K | 28.7K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Antwerp and Gent right now?
Antwerp has cleaner air than Gent right now: AQI 60 (Moderate) against 65 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Gent's PM2.5 is about 1.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
AntwerpGent
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).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Gent averaged AQI 80 against 85, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 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
- Antwerp2Gent4
- Average AQI
- Antwerp85Gent80
- Worst day, AQI
- Antwerp122Gent95
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Antwerp | Gent |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 60 | 64 |
| Nov 6 | 89 | 86 |
| Nov 7 | 122 | 95 |
| Nov 8 | 76 | 73 |
| Nov 9 | 81 | 77 |
| Nov 10 | 82 | 83 |
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 Antwerp and Gent today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Antwerp and Gent compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Antwerp's air is cleaner than 48% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Gent's is cleaner than 42%. Within Belgium, that is 29% and 14% of its 8 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Antwerp
- Beats 48%
- Gent
- Beats 42%
More tree cover than…
- Antwerp
- Beats 37%
- Gent
- Beats 49%
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, Antwerp or Gent?
Antwerp has lost more: about 204 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 108 ha around Gent. 152 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: 2021, with 38 ha lost.
Worst year: 2024, with 12 ha lost.
| Antwerp | Gent | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 204 ha | 108 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 4.1% | 2.5% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 152 ha | 39 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (73%) | Logging (45%) |
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.
Antwerp
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 3 km west of the city center.
Gent
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Antwerp or Gent?
Gent has more tree cover: 20.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.2% around Antwerp, or about 64,953 trees against 41,784.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Antwerp | Gent | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 41.8K | 65.0K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 35.6K | 28.7K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 919K kg | 1.4M kg (better) |
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
Antwerp vs Gent: your questions answered
Is Antwerp cleaner than Gent?
On air quality, yes, right now: Antwerp reads AQI 60 against 65, a gap of 5 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Gent averaged AQI 80 against 85, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Antwerp and Gent today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Antwerp reads AQI 60 and Gent reads AQI 65.
Which has lost more forest, Antwerp or Gent?
Antwerp has lost more: about 204 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 108 ha around Gent. 152 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Antwerp or Gent?
Gent has more tree cover: 20.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.2% around Antwerp, or about 64,953 trees against 41,784. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Antwerp and Gent need?
Antwerp needs about 35,594 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Gent about 28,729 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 51 km apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Antwerp and Gent 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 Antwerp vs Gent 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 6, 2026 and Aug 12, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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