Air quality comparison · Bangladesh, 239 km apart
Chattogram vs Khulna Air quality index (AQI) today
Chattogram has cleaner air than Khulna right now: AQI 41 (Good) against 68 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Chattogram averaged AQI 94 against 145, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Chattogram has lost more forest since 2001. Khulna has more tree cover.
Bangladesh
AQI 41
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 7.2 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 19:00 local
Bangladesh
AQI 68
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 18.4 µg/m³1.2× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 22:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Chattogram41Khulna68
Head to head
Chattogram vs Khulna at a glance
Chattogram and Khulna are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Chattogram | Khulna | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 41 (better) | 68 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 7.2 (better) | 18.4 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 94 (better) | 145 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 44 ha | 2 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 26.5% | 38.9% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 10.1K | 0 (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Chattogram and Khulna right now?
Chattogram has cleaner air than Khulna right now: AQI 41 (Good) against 68 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Khulna's PM2.5 is about 1.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Khulna is read from a nearby ground station and Chattogram is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
ChattogramKhulna
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).
Chattogram: Estimate · model corrected with 9 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Sonargaon and Narayanganj. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 9 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index.
Khulna: Ground station · Khulna City | Smart Air Bangladesh, 1.3 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Smart Air Bangladesh.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Chattogram averaged AQI 94 against 145, 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
- Chattogram6Khulna0
- Average AQI
- Chattogram94Khulna145
- Worst day, AQI
- Chattogram117Khulna168
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Chattogram | Khulna |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 99 | 150 |
| Nov 6 | 98 | 153 |
| Nov 7 | 117 | 168 |
| Nov 8 | 104 | 162 |
| Nov 9 | 89 | 147 |
| Nov 10 | 57 | 91 |
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 Chattogram and Khulna today?
Chattogram (AQI 41, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Khulna (AQI 68, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Chattogram
- A good day to be active outside.
- Khulna
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Chattogram
- Open them to air the house.
- Khulna
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Chattogram
- Not needed.
- Khulna
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Chattogram
- Not needed.
- Khulna
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Chattogram and Khulna compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Chattogram's air is cleaner than 69% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Khulna's is cleaner than 39%. Within Bangladesh, that is 93% and 73% of its 45 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Chattogram
- Beats 69%
- Khulna
- Beats 39%
More tree cover than…
- Chattogram
- Beats 61%
- Khulna
- Beats 82%
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, Chattogram or Khulna?
Chattogram has lost more: about 44 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 2 ha around Khulna. 39 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: 2009, with 11 ha lost.
Worst year: 2018, with under 1 ha lost.
| Chattogram | Khulna | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 44 ha | 2 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 1.6% | under 1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 39 ha | 1 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (70%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (29%) |
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.
Chattogram
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Khulna
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Chattogram or Khulna?
Khulna has more tree cover: 38.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 26.5% around Chattogram, or about 108,887 trees against 76,259.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Chattogram | Khulna | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 76.3K | 109K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 10.1K | 0 (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.7M kg | 2.4M 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
Chattogram vs Khulna: your questions answered
Is Chattogram cleaner than Khulna?
On air quality, yes, right now: Chattogram reads AQI 41 against 68, a gap of 27 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, Chattogram averaged AQI 94 against 145, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Chattogram and Khulna today?
In Chattogram, at AQI 41: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Khulna, at AQI 68: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Chattogram or Khulna?
Chattogram has lost more: about 44 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 2 ha around Khulna. 39 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Chattogram or Khulna?
Khulna has more tree cover: 38.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 26.5% around Chattogram, or about 108,887 trees against 76,259. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Chattogram and Khulna need?
Chattogram needs about 10,072 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Khulna about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Chattogram and Khulna 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. Khulna is read from a nearby ground station and Chattogram 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 Chattogram vs Khulna 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 (Oct 12, 2026 and Oct 12, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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