Air quality comparison · Azerbaijan, 30 km apart
Baku vs Sumgayit Air quality index (AQI) today
Sumgayit has cleaner air than Baku right now: AQI 68 (Moderate) against 93 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Baku averaged AQI 30 against 32, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Baku has lost more forest since 2001. Sumgayit has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Baku93Sumgayit68
Head to head
Baku vs Sumgayit at a glance
Sumgayit is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Baku on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Baku | Sumgayit | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 93 | 68 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 31.4 | 20.8 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 30 (better) | 32 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 96 ha | 34 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 2.4% | 15.5% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 58.5K | 42.9K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Baku and Sumgayit right now?
Sumgayit has cleaner air than Baku right now: AQI 68 (Moderate) against 93 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Baku's PM2.5 is about 2.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Sumgayit's PM2.5 is about 1.4× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Baku is read from a nearby ground station and Sumgayit is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
BakuSumgayit
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).
Baku: Ground station · Baku, 4.3 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirNow.
Sumgayit: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 45 km, e.g. Khirdalan and Baku. 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?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Baku averaged AQI 30 against 32, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- Baku5Sumgayit1
- Average AQI
- Baku30Sumgayit32
- Worst day, AQI
- Baku65Sumgayit67
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Baku | Sumgayit |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 65 | 67 |
| Nov 5 | 51 | 50 |
| Nov 6 | 16 | 21 |
| Nov 7 | 40 | 40 |
| Nov 8 | 18 | 22 |
| Nov 9 | 6 | 8 |
| Nov 10 | 15 | 18 |
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 Baku and Sumgayit 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 Baku and Sumgayit compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Baku's air is cleaner than 24% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Sumgayit's is cleaner than 39%. Within Azerbaijan, that is 0% and 67% of its 7 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Baku
- Beats 24%
- Sumgayit
- Beats 39%
More tree cover than…
- Baku
- Beats 5%
- Sumgayit
- Beats 36%
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, Baku or Sumgayit?
Baku has lost more: about 96 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 34 ha around Sumgayit. 89 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 27 ha lost.
Worst year: 2002, with 11 ha lost.
| Baku | Sumgayit | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 96 ha | 34 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 15% | 6.4% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 89 ha | 28 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (92%) | Towns and roads (69%) |
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.
Baku
2018: satellite photo from August 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Sumgayit
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Baku or Sumgayit?
Sumgayit has more tree cover: 15.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 2.4% around Baku, or about 45,870 trees against 5,089.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Baku | Sumgayit | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 5.1K | 45.9K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 58.5K | 42.9K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 112K kg | 1.0M 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
Baku vs Sumgayit: your questions answered
Is Sumgayit cleaner than Baku?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sumgayit reads AQI 68 against 93, a gap of 25 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Baku averaged AQI 30 against 32, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Baku and Sumgayit today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Baku reads AQI 93 and Sumgayit reads AQI 68.
Which has lost more forest, Baku or Sumgayit?
Baku has lost more: about 96 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 34 ha around Sumgayit. 89 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Baku or Sumgayit?
Sumgayit has more tree cover: 15.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 2.4% around Baku, or about 45,870 trees against 5,089. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Baku and Sumgayit need?
Baku needs about 58,528 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Sumgayit about 42,911 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 30 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 Baku and Sumgayit 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. Baku is read from a nearby ground station and Sumgayit is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Baku vs Sumgayit 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 11, 2026 and Sep 11, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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