Air quality comparison · Iraq, 319 km apart
Baghdad vs Erbil Air quality index (AQI) today
Erbil has cleaner air than Baghdad right now: AQI 54 (Moderate) against 62 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Erbil averaged AQI 57 against 91, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Erbil has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Baghdad62Erbil54
Head to head
Baghdad vs Erbil at a glance
Erbil is ahead on 5 of 5 measures, and Baghdad on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Baghdad | Erbil | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 62 | 54 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 15.4 | 10.3 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 91 | 57 (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 2.3% | 5.0% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 82.6K | 78.5K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Baghdad and Erbil right now?
Erbil has cleaner air than Baghdad right now: AQI 54 (Moderate) against 62 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Baghdad's PM2.5 is about 1.0× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
BaghdadErbil
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).
Baghdad: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Erbil: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 185 km, e.g. Sulaymaniyah and Silopi. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 185 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Erbil averaged AQI 57 against 91, 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
- Baghdad0Erbil6
- Average AQI
- Baghdad91Erbil57
- Worst day, AQI
- Baghdad118Erbil76
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Baghdad | Erbil |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 99 | 76 |
| Nov 6 | 113 | 66 |
| Nov 7 | 118 | 56 |
| Nov 8 | 103 | 53 |
| Nov 9 | 52 | 48 |
| Nov 10 | 58 | 43 |
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 Baghdad and Erbil 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 Baghdad and Erbil compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Baghdad's air is cleaner than 45% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Erbil's is cleaner than 55%. Within Iraq, that is 31% and 44% of its 49 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Baghdad
- Beats 45%
- Erbil
- Beats 55%
More tree cover than…
- Baghdad
- Beats 5%
- Erbil
- Beats 10%
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.
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.
Baghdad
2018: satellite photo from September 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Erbil
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Baghdad or Erbil?
Erbil has more tree cover: 5.0% of the land within 2 km of its center against 2.3% around Baghdad, or about 15,708 trees against 6,857.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Baghdad | Erbil | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 6.9K | 15.7K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 82.6K | 78.5K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 151K kg | 346K 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
Baghdad vs Erbil: your questions answered
Is Erbil cleaner than Baghdad?
On air quality, yes, right now: Erbil reads AQI 54 against 62, a gap of 8 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Erbil averaged AQI 57 against 91, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Baghdad and Erbil today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Baghdad reads AQI 62 and Erbil reads AQI 54.
Which has more trees, Baghdad or Erbil?
Erbil has more tree cover: 5.0% of the land within 2 km of its center against 2.3% around Baghdad, or about 15,708 trees against 6,857. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Baghdad and Erbil need?
Baghdad needs about 82,584 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Erbil about 78,540 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Baghdad and Erbil 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 Baghdad vs Erbil 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 19, 2026 and Sep 17, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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