Country comparison · 677 cities measured
China vs Democratic Republic of the Congo Air quality index (AQI) and deforestation
Democratic Republic of the Congo has cleaner air than China right now: its cities average AQI 49 against 114.
Democratic Republic of the Congo has lost more forest since 2001. Democratic Republic of the Congo has more tree cover in its cities.
Average of 639 cities
AQI 114
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 125
- Tree cover
- 22.9%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 13.5 million ha
Average of 38 cities
AQI 49
Good
Cleaner on average
- Tree cover
- 28.4%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 22.5 million ha
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
China114Democratic Republic of the Congo49
Head to head
China vs Democratic Republic of the Congo at a glance
Democratic Republic of the Congo is ahead on 3 of 5 measures, and China on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| China | Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
|---|---|---|
| Average air qualityUS AQI, all measured cities. | 114 | 49 (better) |
| Cities over AQI 100Not fine for sensitive groups. | 55% | 3% (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001The whole country. | 13.5 million ha (better) | 22.5 million ha |
| Share of its forest lostOf what it had in 2000. | 8.3% (better) | 11% |
| Average tree coverAcross its measured cities. | 22.9% | 28.4% (better) |
Air quality today
Is Democratic Republic of the Congo cleaner than China?
On air quality, yes, right now. Democratic Republic of the Congo has cleaner air than China right now: its cities average AQI 49 against 114.
55% of the measured cities in China are over AQI 100 today, the point where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, against 3% in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
How each country's cities split across the air quality bands
China
- Good47 (7%)
- Moderate241 (38%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups141 (22%)
- Unhealthy190 (30%)
- Very unhealthy20 (3%)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Good22 (58%)
- Moderate15 (39%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups1 (3%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
Against everywhere else
How do China and Democratic Republic of the Congo compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of China average cleaner air than 4% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and those of the Democratic Republic of the Congo than 53%.
Cleaner air than…
- China
- Beats 4%
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Beats 53%
More tree cover than…
- China
- Beats 46%
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Beats 64%
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which country has lost more forest, China or Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Democratic Republic of the Congo has lost more: about 22.5 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 13.5 million ha in China, or 1.7 times as much. 3.48 million ha of Democratic Republic of the Congo'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: 2008, with 739,000 ha lost.
Worst year: 2017, with 1.47 million ha lost.
| China | Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 13.5 million ha (better) | 22.5 million ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 8.3% (better) | 11% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 2.24 million ha (better) | 3.48 million ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Holding steady | Holding steady |
| Main known cause | Logging (75%) | Shifting farming (82%) |
Trees
Which country has more tree cover, China or Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Democratic Republic of the Congo does: its measured cities average 28.4% tree cover against 22.9%, a gap of 5.5 percentage points.
| China | Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingSummed across measured cities. | 43.8M (better) | 3.2M |
| Cities below their targetShort of the canopy target. | 81% | 61% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach those targets. | 27.4M | 1.0M (better) |
Behind the averages
The cities behind China and Democratic Republic of the Congo
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: 639 in China and 38 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 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. China rests on 639 cities against 38, so its average is the steadier of the two. Forest figures come from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
Frequently asked
China vs Democratic Republic of the Congo: your questions answered
Is Democratic Republic of the Congo cleaner than China?
On air quality, yes, right now: Democratic Republic of the Congo's cities average AQI 49 against 114 on the US EPA index. These are live readings averaged across cities, so the gap moves with the weather.
Which country has lost more forest, China or Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Democratic Republic of the Congo has lost more: about 22.5 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 13.5 million ha in China, or 1.7 times as much. 3.48 million ha of Democratic Republic of the Congo'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, China or Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Democratic Republic of the Congo does: its measured cities average 28.4% tree cover against 22.9%, a gap of 5.5 percentage points.
How many cities are the China and Democratic Republic of the Congo figures based on?
639 measured cities in China and 38 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 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.
Does this cover the whole of China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
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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