Country comparison · 172 cities measured
Bangladesh vs Pakistan Air quality index (AQI) and deforestation
Bangladesh has cleaner air than Pakistan right now: its cities average AQI 132 against 324.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Bangladesh 215 (9 cities) and Pakistan 285 (58 cities). Bangladesh has lost more forest since 2001. Bangladesh has more tree cover in its cities.
Average of 45 cities
AQI 132
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 215
- Tree cover
- 52.9%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 263,000 ha
Average of 127 cities
AQI 324
Hazardous
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 285
- Tree cover
- 12.5%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 10,300 ha
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Bangladesh132Pakistan324
Head to head
Bangladesh vs Pakistan at a glance
Bangladesh is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Pakistan on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Bangladesh | Pakistan | |
|---|---|---|
| Average air qualityUS AQI, all measured cities. | 132 (better) | 324 |
| At ground stationsCities with a current station reading. | 215 (better) | 285 |
| Cities over AQI 100Not fine for sensitive groups. | 53% (better) | 86% |
| Forest lost since 2001The whole country. | 263,000 ha | 10,300 ha (better) |
| Share of its forest lostOf what it had in 2000. | 14% | 1% (better) |
| Average tree coverAcross its measured cities. | 52.9% (better) | 12.5% |
Air quality today
Is Bangladesh cleaner than Pakistan?
On air quality, yes, right now. Bangladesh has cleaner air than Pakistan right now: its cities average AQI 132 against 324.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Bangladesh 215 (9 cities) and Pakistan 285 (58 cities).
53% of the measured cities in Bangladesh are over AQI 100 today, the point where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, against 86% in Pakistan.
How each country's cities split across the air quality bands
Bangladesh
- Good2 (4%)
- Moderate19 (42%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups8 (18%)
- Unhealthy9 (20%)
- Very unhealthy7 (16%)
Pakistan
- Good1 (1%)
- Moderate17 (13%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups15 (12%)
- Unhealthy23 (18%)
- Very unhealthy20 (16%)
- Hazardous51 (40%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
Against everywhere else
How do Bangladesh and Pakistan compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of Bangladesh average cleaner air than 2% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and those of Pakistan than 0%.
Cleaner air than…
- Bangladesh
- Beats 2%
- Pakistan
- Beats 0%
More tree cover than…
- Bangladesh
- Beats 98%
- Pakistan
- Beats 22%
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which country has lost more forest, Bangladesh or Pakistan?
Bangladesh has lost more: about 263,000 ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 10,300 ha in Pakistan, or 26 times as much. 49,400 ha of Bangladesh'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: 2006, with 1,340 ha lost.
| Bangladesh | Pakistan | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 263,000 ha | 10,300 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 14% | 1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 49,400 ha | 784 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Speeding up |
| Main known cause | Shifting farming (73%) | Logging (69%) |
Trees
Which country has more tree cover, Bangladesh or Pakistan?
Bangladesh does: its measured cities average 52.9% tree cover against 12.5%, a gap of 40.4 percentage points.
| Bangladesh | Pakistan | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingSummed across measured cities. | 7.0M (better) | 5.0M |
| Cities below their targetShort of the canopy target. | 18% (better) | 95% |
| Trees still neededTo reach those targets. | 330K (better) | 11.5M |
Behind the averages
The cities behind Bangladesh and Pakistan
An average says nothing about how far apart the best and worst places are. These are the measured cities at each end.
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 127 in Pakistan, 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. Pakistan rests on 127 cities against 45, 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 Pakistan: your questions answered
Is Bangladesh cleaner than Pakistan?
On air quality, yes, right now: Bangladesh's cities average AQI 132 against 324 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 215 (9 cities) and Pakistan 285 (58 cities).
Which country has lost more forest, Bangladesh or Pakistan?
Bangladesh has lost more: about 263,000 ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 10,300 ha in Pakistan, or 26 times as much. 49,400 ha of Bangladesh'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 Pakistan?
Bangladesh does: its measured cities average 52.9% tree cover against 12.5%, a gap of 40.4 percentage points.
How many cities are the Bangladesh and Pakistan figures based on?
45 measured cities in Bangladesh and 127 in Pakistan. 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 Pakistan?
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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