Air quality comparison · South Africa, 1272 km apart
Cape Town vs Durban Air quality index (AQI) today
Cape Town has cleaner air than Durban right now: AQI 61 (Moderate) against 87 (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, Durban averaged AQI 56 against 73, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Cape Town has lost more forest since 2001. Cape Town has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Cape Town61Durban87
Head to head
Cape Town vs Durban at a glance
Cape Town and Durban are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Cape Town | Durban | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 61 (better) | 87 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 14.2 (better) | 28.5 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 73 | 56 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 642 ha | 147 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 15.2% (better) | 8.0% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 43.1K | 41.5K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Cape Town and Durban right now?
Cape Town has cleaner air than Durban right now: AQI 61 (Moderate) against 87 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Durban's PM2.5 is about 1.9× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
Cape TownDurban
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).
Cape Town: Ground station · Foreshore-NAQI, 1.3 km away · median of 4 stations. Data: OpenAQ · South Africa, South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS).
Durban: Ground station · City Hall - Durban-NAQI, 200 m away · median of 2 stations. Data: OpenAQ · South Africa, South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Durban averaged AQI 56 against 73, 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
- Cape Town1Durban6
- Average AQI
- Cape Town73Durban56
- Worst day, AQI
- Cape Town97Durban67
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Cape Town | Durban |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 75 | 67 |
| Nov 6 | 57 | 55 |
| Nov 7 | 55 | 56 |
| Nov 8 | 56 | 50 |
| Nov 9 | 97 | 57 |
| Nov 10 | 75 | 54 |
| Nov 11 | 94 | 55 |
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 Cape Town and Durban 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 Cape Town and Durban compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Cape Town's air is cleaner than 46% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Durban's is cleaner than 27%. Within South Africa, that is 57% and 18% of its 66 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Cape Town
- Beats 46%
- Durban
- Beats 27%
More tree cover than…
- Cape Town
- Beats 35%
- Durban
- Beats 16%
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, Cape Town or Durban?
Cape Town has lost more: about 642 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 147 ha around Durban. 139 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: 2018, with 147 ha lost.
Worst year: 2006, with 24 ha lost.
| Cape Town | Durban | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 642 ha | 147 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 15% | 5% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 139 ha (better) | 143 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Wildfires (63%) | Towns and roads (94%) |
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.
Cape Town
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
Durban
2017: satellite photo from May 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Cape Town or Durban?
Cape Town has more tree cover: 15.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 8.0% around Durban, or about 44,219 trees against 15,080.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Cape Town | Durban | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 44.2K (better) | 15.1K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 43.1K | 41.5K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 973K kg (better) | 332K 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
Cape Town vs Durban: your questions answered
Is Cape Town cleaner than Durban?
On air quality, yes, right now: Cape Town reads AQI 61 against 87, a gap of 26 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, Durban averaged AQI 56 against 73, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Cape Town and Durban today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Cape Town reads AQI 61 and Durban reads AQI 87.
Which has lost more forest, Cape Town or Durban?
Cape Town has lost more: about 642 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 147 ha around Durban. 139 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Cape Town or Durban?
Cape Town has more tree cover: 15.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 8.0% around Durban, or about 44,219 trees against 15,080. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Cape Town and Durban need?
Cape Town needs about 43,055 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Durban about 41,469 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Cape Town and Durban 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 Cape Town vs Durban 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 (Mar 15, 2026 and Sep 9, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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