Air quality comparison · South Africa, 663 km apart
Cape Town vs Gqeberha Air quality index (AQI) today
Cape Town has cleaner air than Gqeberha right now: AQI 61 (Moderate) against 121 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Gqeberha averaged AQI 52 against 73, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Gqeberha has lost more forest since 2001. Gqeberha has more tree cover.
South Africa
AQI 61
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 14.2 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 20:00 local
South Africa
AQI 121
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 32.5 µg/m³2.2× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 02:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Cape Town61Gqeberha121
Head to head
Cape Town vs Gqeberha at a glance
Cape Town and Gqeberha are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Cape Town | Gqeberha | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 61 (better) | 121 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 14.2 (better) | 32.5 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 73 | 52 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 642 ha (better) | 2,350 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 15.2% | 21.2% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 43.1K | 35.5K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Cape Town and Gqeberha right now?
Cape Town has cleaner air than Gqeberha right now: AQI 61 (Moderate) against 121 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Gqeberha's PM2.5 is about 2.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Cape Town is read from a nearby ground station and Gqeberha is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
Cape TownGqeberha
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).
Gqeberha: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Mdantsane and KuGompo City. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 245 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, Gqeberha averaged AQI 52 against 73, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 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 Town0Gqeberha7
- Average AQI
- Cape Town73Gqeberha52
- Worst day, AQI
- Cape Town97Gqeberha80
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Cape Town | Gqeberha |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 75 | 43 |
| Nov 6 | 57 | 38 |
| Nov 7 | 55 | 51 |
| Nov 8 | 56 | 49 |
| Nov 9 | 97 | 44 |
| Nov 10 | 75 | 59 |
| Nov 11 | 94 | 80 |
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 Gqeberha today?
Cape Town (AQI 61, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Gqeberha (AQI 121, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Exercise outdoors
- Cape Town
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Gqeberha
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
Windows
- Cape Town
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Gqeberha
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
Masks
- Cape Town
- Not needed for most people.
- Gqeberha
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
- Cape Town
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Gqeberha
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
Against everywhere else
How do Cape Town and Gqeberha 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 Gqeberha's is cleaner than 16%. Within South Africa, that is 57% and 3% of its 66 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Cape Town
- Beats 46%
- Gqeberha
- Beats 16%
More tree cover than…
- Cape Town
- Beats 35%
- Gqeberha
- 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, Cape Town or Gqeberha?
Gqeberha has lost more: about 2,350 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 642 ha around Cape Town. 198 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: 2017, with 432 ha lost.
| Cape Town | Gqeberha | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 642 ha (better) | 2,350 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 15% (better) | 55% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 139 ha (better) | 198 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Wildfires (63%) | Wildfires (83%) |
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.
Gqeberha
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km south of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Cape Town or Gqeberha?
Gqeberha has more tree cover: 21.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.2% around Cape Town, or about 54,547 trees against 44,219.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Cape Town | Gqeberha | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 44.2K | 54.5K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 43.1K | 35.5K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 973K kg | 1.2M 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
Cape Town vs Gqeberha: your questions answered
Is Cape Town cleaner than Gqeberha?
On air quality, yes, right now: Cape Town reads AQI 61 against 121, a gap of 60 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, Gqeberha averaged AQI 52 against 73, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Cape Town and Gqeberha today?
In Cape Town, at AQI 61: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Gqeberha, at AQI 121: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Which has lost more forest, Cape Town or Gqeberha?
Gqeberha has lost more: about 2,350 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 642 ha around Cape Town. 198 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Cape Town or Gqeberha?
Gqeberha has more tree cover: 21.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.2% around Cape Town, or about 54,547 trees against 44,219. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Cape Town and Gqeberha need?
Cape Town needs about 43,055 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Gqeberha about 35,507 to reach 35%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Cape Town and Gqeberha 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. Cape Town is read from a nearby ground station and Gqeberha 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 Cape Town vs Gqeberha 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 Mar 11, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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