Country comparison · 89 cities measured
Bangladesh vs Italy Air quality index (AQI) and deforestation
Italy has cleaner air than Bangladesh right now: its cities average AQI 50 against 119.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Bangladesh 185 (9 cities) and Italy 39 (19 cities). Italy has lost more forest since 2001. Bangladesh has more tree cover in its cities.
Average of 45 cities
AQI 119
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 185
- Tree cover
- 52.9%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 263,000 ha
Average of 44 cities
AQI 50
Good
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 39
- Tree cover
- 23.6%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 547,000 ha
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Bangladesh119Italy50
Head to head
Bangladesh vs Italy at a glance
Italy is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Bangladesh on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Bangladesh | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Average air qualityUS AQI, all measured cities. | 119 | 50 (better) |
| At ground stationsCities with a current station reading. | 185 | 39 (better) |
| Cities over AQI 100Not fine for sensitive groups. | 49% | 5% (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001The whole country. | 263,000 ha (better) | 547,000 ha |
| Share of its forest lostOf what it had in 2000. | 14% | 5.9% (better) |
| Average tree coverAcross its measured cities. | 52.9% (better) | 23.6% |
Air quality today
Is Italy cleaner than Bangladesh?
On air quality, yes, right now. Italy has cleaner air than Bangladesh right now: its cities average AQI 50 against 119.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Bangladesh 185 (9 cities) and Italy 39 (19 cities).
49% of the measured cities in Bangladesh are over AQI 100 today, the point where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, against 5% in Italy.
How each country's cities split across the air quality bands
Bangladesh
- Good2 (4%)
- Moderate21 (47%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups6 (13%)
- Unhealthy13 (29%)
- Very unhealthy3 (7%)
Italy
- Good22 (50%)
- Moderate20 (45%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups2 (5%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
Against everywhere else
How do Bangladesh and Italy compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of Bangladesh average cleaner air than 3% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and those of Italy than 53%.
Cleaner air than…
- Bangladesh
- Beats 3%
- Italy
- Beats 53%
More tree cover than…
- Bangladesh
- Beats 98%
- Italy
- Beats 49%
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which country has lost more forest, Bangladesh or Italy?
Italy has lost more: about 547,000 ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 263,000 ha in Bangladesh, or 2.1 times as much. 50,500 ha of Italy's was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns; the rest burned, was logged or can grow back.
The whole country, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: unlike the city averages above, this counts every forest, not just the land around cities.
Worst year: 2017, with 27,500 ha lost.
Worst year: 2019, with 59,300 ha lost.
| Bangladesh | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 263,000 ha (better) | 547,000 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 14% | 5.9% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 49,400 ha (better) | 50,500 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Holding steady |
| Main known cause | Shifting farming (73%) | Logging (74%) |
Trees
Which country has more tree cover, Bangladesh or Italy?
Bangladesh does: its measured cities average 52.9% tree cover against 23.6%, a gap of 29.3 percentage points.
| Bangladesh | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingSummed across measured cities. | 7.0M (better) | 3.1M |
| Cities below their targetShort of the canopy target. | 18% (better) | 80% |
| Trees still neededTo reach those targets. | 270K (better) | 1.1M |
Behind the averages
The cities behind Bangladesh and Italy
An average says nothing about how far apart the best and worst places are. These are the measured cities at each end.
Bangladesh
- Greenest measured city
- Bagerhat76.9% tree cover
- Worst air right now
- NarayanganjAQI 191
Reading these numbers
What a country average is, and is not
It is a mean of cities
Not a national statistic. Each figure is the average across the cities Airleaf has measured: 45 in Bangladesh and 44 in Italy, each read over the same 2 km radius, on the US EPA index. Rural land and unmeasured towns are not in it.
Coverage shapes the number
A country measured mostly in its capital reads differently from one measured across dozens of towns. Bangladesh rests on 45 cities against 44, so its average is the steadier of the two. Forest figures come from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
Frequently asked
Bangladesh vs Italy: your questions answered
Is Italy cleaner than Bangladesh?
On air quality, yes, right now: Italy's cities average AQI 50 against 119 on the US EPA index. These are live readings averaged across cities, so the gap moves with the weather. At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Bangladesh 185 (9 cities) and Italy 39 (19 cities).
Which country has lost more forest, Bangladesh or Italy?
Italy has lost more: about 547,000 ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 263,000 ha in Bangladesh, or 2.1 times as much. 50,500 ha of Italy's was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns; the rest burned, was logged or can grow back.
Which country has more tree cover, Bangladesh or Italy?
Bangladesh does: its measured cities average 52.9% tree cover against 23.6%, a gap of 29.3 percentage points.
How many cities are the Bangladesh and Italy figures based on?
45 measured cities in Bangladesh and 44 in Italy. Every one was read the same way, so the two averages are directly comparable, but a country with more measured cities has the more settled figure.
Why are there two air quality averages for each country?
The first covers every measured city, using a ground station where one is close and a model estimate everywhere else. The second counts only cities with a current station reading, which is measured rather than estimated but covers fewer places. Airleaf's world rankings use the station figures only.
Does this cover the whole of Bangladesh and Italy?
The air and tree figures are not: they are the cities Airleaf has measured, each over the same 2 km radius, so treat them as a comparison of urban air and urban tree cover. The forest figures are: they count every forest in the country.
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