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Airleaf

Country comparison

China vs Myanmar

Averaged across every city Airleaf has measured in each country — 638 in China and 33 in Myanmar — each read the same way: Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 m detail over a 2 km radius, and the live US EPA air quality index.

Myanmar averages more tree cover — 59.0% against 34.5%.

Myanmar averages cleaner air — AQI 41 against 86.

Tree cover gap
24.4 points
Myanmar is ahead.
Air quality gap
45 AQI
Myanmar is cleaner.
Cities behind it
638 vs 33
How much each average rests on.
China

638 cities measured

Myanmar

33 cities measured

Average tree cover

Mean across measured cities, each over the same 2 km radius.

34.5%

59.0%

Average air quality index

US EPA index. Lower is better.

86

41

Cities measured

How much each average rests on.

638

33

Trees standing

Summed across every measured city in each country.

66.3M

5.6M

Cities below their target

Share of measured cities short of the canopy target. Lower is better.

52% (332)

6% (2)

Trees still needed

Summed across measured cities, to reach their canopy targets. Fewer is better.

10.2M

9.2K

Behind the averages

The extremes in each country

An average says nothing about how far apart the best and worst places are. These are the measured cities at each end.

China

Greenest measured city
Jianshui98.5% tree cover
Worst air right now
ShangyuAQI 213

Myanmar

Greenest measured city
Thandwe92.6% tree cover
Worst air right now
MonywaAQI 80

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 in that country — 638 in China and 33 in Myanmar — each read over the same 2 km radius. Rural land, forest and everywhere unmeasured are not in it, so this compares urban areas rather than territories.

Coverage shapes the number

A country measured mostly in its capital reads differently from one measured across dozens of towns. China rests on 638 cities against 33, so its average is the steadier of the two. Both firm up as coverage grows.

Frequently asked

China and Myanmar, answered

Which country has more tree cover, China or Myanmar?

Myanmar, averaging 59.0% across its measured cities against 34.5% — a gap of 24.4 percentage points.

Which has cleaner air, China or Myanmar?

Myanmar, averaging AQI 41 against 86 on the US EPA index. These are live readings averaged across cities, so the gap moves with the weather.

How many cities is each figure based on?

638 measured cities in China and 33 in Myanmar. 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.

Is this the whole country?

No. It is the cities Airleaf has measured, each over a 2 km radius from its centre. Forest, farmland and unmeasured towns are not included, so treat this as a comparison of urban tree cover and urban air rather than of national land cover.

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