Country comparison · 105 cities measured
Colombia vs Spain Air quality index (AQI) and deforestation
Spain has cleaner air than Colombia right now: its cities average AQI 21 against 52.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Colombia 57 (10 cities) and Spain 24 (30 cities). Colombia has lost more forest since 2001. Colombia has more tree cover in its cities.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Colombia52Spain21
Head to head
Colombia vs Spain at a glance
Spain is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Colombia on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Colombia | Spain | |
|---|---|---|
| Average air qualityUS AQI, all measured cities. | 52 | 21 (better) |
| At ground stationsCities with a current station reading. | 57 | 24 (better) |
| Cities over AQI 100Not fine for sensitive groups. | 2% | 0% (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001The whole country. | 5.8 million ha | 1.79 million ha (better) |
| Share of its forest lostOf what it had in 2000. | 7.1% (better) | 17% |
| Average tree coverAcross its measured cities. | 24.9% (better) | 14.3% |
Air quality today
Is Spain cleaner than Colombia?
On air quality, yes, right now. Spain has cleaner air than Colombia right now: its cities average AQI 21 against 52.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Colombia 57 (10 cities) and Spain 24 (30 cities).
2% of the measured cities in Colombia are over AQI 100 today, the point where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, against 0% in Spain.
How each country's cities split across the air quality bands
Colombia
- Good18 (38%)
- Moderate29 (60%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups1 (2%)
Spain
- Good56 (98%)
- Moderate1 (2%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
Against everywhere else
How do Colombia and Spain compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of Colombia average cleaner air than 51% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and those of Spain than 98%.
Cleaner air than…
- Colombia
- Beats 51%
- Spain
- Beats 98%
More tree cover than…
- Colombia
- Beats 51%
- Spain
- Beats 28%
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which country has lost more forest, Colombia or Spain?
Colombia has lost more: about 5.8 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 1.79 million ha in Spain, or 3.2 times as much. 5.2 million ha of Colombia'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 425,000 ha lost.
Worst year: 2025, with 153,000 ha lost.
| Colombia | Spain | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 5.8 million ha | 1.79 million ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 7.1% (better) | 17% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 5.2 million ha | 81,100 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Holding steady |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (89%) | Logging (65%) |
Trees
Which country has more tree cover, Colombia or Spain?
Colombia does: its measured cities average 24.9% tree cover against 14.3%, a gap of 10.6 percentage points.
| Colombia | Spain | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingSummed across measured cities. | 3.7M (better) | 2.4M |
| Cities below their targetShort of the canopy target. | 69% (better) | 91% |
| Trees still neededTo reach those targets. | 1.3M (better) | 2.6M |
Behind the averages
The cities behind Colombia and Spain
An average says nothing about how far apart the best and worst places are. These are the measured cities at each end.
Colombia
- Greenest measured city
- Piedecuesta52.5% tree cover
- Worst air right now
- CaliAQI 90
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: 48 in Colombia and 57 in Spain, 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. Spain rests on 57 cities against 48, so its average is the steadier of the two. Forest figures come from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
Frequently asked
Colombia vs Spain: your questions answered
Is Spain cleaner than Colombia?
On air quality, yes, right now: Spain's cities average AQI 21 against 52 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 Colombia 57 (10 cities) and Spain 24 (30 cities).
Which country has lost more forest, Colombia or Spain?
Colombia has lost more: about 5.8 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 1.79 million ha in Spain, or 3.2 times as much. 5.2 million ha of Colombia'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, Colombia or Spain?
Colombia does: its measured cities average 24.9% tree cover against 14.3%, a gap of 10.6 percentage points.
How many cities are the Colombia and Spain figures based on?
48 measured cities in Colombia and 57 in Spain. 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 Colombia and Spain?
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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