Air quality comparison · Belgium, 88 km apart
Charleroi vs Gent Air quality index (AQI) today
Charleroi has cleaner air than Gent right now: AQI 26 (Good) against 66 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Charleroi averaged AQI 69 against 78, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Charleroi has lost more forest since 2001. Charleroi has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Charleroi26Gent66
Head to head
Charleroi vs Gent at a glance
Charleroi is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Gent on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Charleroi | Gent | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 26 (better) | 66 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 4.6 (better) | 17.3 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 69 (better) | 78 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 221 ha | 108 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 30.8% (better) | 20.8% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 28.7K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Charleroi and Gent right now?
Charleroi has cleaner air than Gent right now: AQI 26 (Good) against 66 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Gent's PM2.5 is about 1.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
CharleroiGent
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 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Charleroi averaged AQI 69 against 78, 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
- Charleroi7Gent0
- Average AQI
- Charleroi69Gent78
- Worst day, AQI
- Charleroi85Gent95
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Charleroi | Gent |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 63 | 64 |
| Nov 6 | 79 | 86 |
| Nov 7 | 85 | 95 |
| Nov 8 | 67 | 73 |
| Nov 9 | 72 | 77 |
| Nov 10 | 69 | 83 |
| Nov 11 | 50 | 69 |
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 Charleroi and Gent today?
Charleroi (AQI 26, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Gent (AQI 66, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Charleroi
- A good day to be active outside.
- Gent
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Charleroi
- Open them to air the house.
- Gent
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Charleroi
- Not needed.
- Gent
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Charleroi
- Not needed.
- Gent
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Charleroi and Gent compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Charleroi's air is cleaner than 84% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Gent's is cleaner than 41%. Within Belgium, that is 57% and 14% of its 8 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Charleroi
- Beats 84%
- Gent
- Beats 41%
More tree cover than…
- Charleroi
- Beats 70%
- 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, Charleroi or Gent?
Charleroi has lost more: about 221 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 108 ha around Gent. 58 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: 2023, with 39 ha lost.
Worst year: 2024, with 12 ha lost.
| Charleroi | Gent | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 221 ha | 108 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 3.1% | 2.5% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 58 ha | 39 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (66%) | 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.
Charleroi
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 5 km south 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, Charleroi or Gent?
Charleroi has more tree cover: 30.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 20.8% around Gent, or about 95,600 trees against 64,953.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Charleroi | Gent | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 95.6K (better) | 65.0K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 28.7K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.1M kg (better) | 1.4M 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
Charleroi vs Gent: your questions answered
Is Charleroi cleaner than Gent?
On air quality, yes, right now: Charleroi reads AQI 26 against 66, a gap of 40 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Charleroi averaged AQI 69 against 78, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Charleroi and Gent today?
In Charleroi, at AQI 26: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Gent, at AQI 66: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Charleroi or Gent?
Charleroi has lost more: about 221 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 108 ha around Gent. 58 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Charleroi or Gent?
Charleroi has more tree cover: 30.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 20.8% around Gent, or about 95,600 trees against 64,953. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Charleroi and Gent need?
Charleroi needs about 0 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.
Are Charleroi 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 Charleroi 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 15, 2026 and Aug 12, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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