Country comparison · 104 cities measured
Democratic Republic of the Congo vs South Africa Air quality index (AQI) and deforestation
Democratic Republic of the Congo has cleaner air than South Africa right now: its cities average AQI 49 against 63.
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 38 cities
AQI 49
Good
Cleaner on average
- Tree cover
- 28.4%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 22.5 million ha
Average of 66 cities
AQI 63
Moderate
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 68
- Tree cover
- 21.8%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1.66 million ha
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Democratic Republic of the Congo49South Africa63
Head to head
Democratic Republic of the Congo vs South Africa at a glance
Democratic Republic of the Congo is ahead on 4 of 5 measures, and South Africa on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Average air qualityUS AQI, all measured cities. | 49 (better) | 63 |
| Cities over AQI 100Not fine for sensitive groups. | 3% (better) | 6% |
| Forest lost since 2001The whole country. | 22.5 million ha | 1.66 million ha (better) |
| Share of its forest lostOf what it had in 2000. | 11% (better) | 28% |
| Average tree coverAcross its measured cities. | 28.4% (better) | 21.8% |
Air quality today
Is Democratic Republic of the Congo cleaner than South Africa?
On air quality, yes, right now. Democratic Republic of the Congo has cleaner air than South Africa right now: its cities average AQI 49 against 63.
3% of the measured cities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are over AQI 100 today, the point where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, against 6% in South Africa.
How each country's cities split across the air quality bands
Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Good22 (58%)
- Moderate15 (39%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups1 (3%)
South Africa
- Good23 (35%)
- Moderate39 (59%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups4 (6%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
Against everywhere else
How do Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo average cleaner air than 53% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and those of South Africa than 32%.
Cleaner air than…
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Beats 53%
- South Africa
- Beats 32%
More tree cover than…
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Beats 64%
- South Africa
- Beats 45%
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which country has lost more forest, Democratic Republic of the Congo or South Africa?
Democratic Republic of the Congo has lost more: about 22.5 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 1.66 million ha in South Africa, or 14 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: 2017, with 1.47 million ha lost.
Worst year: 2006, with 105,000 ha lost.
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 22.5 million ha | 1.66 million ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 11% (better) | 28% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 3.48 million ha | 169,000 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Holding steady | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Shifting farming (82%) | Logging (77%) |
Trees
Which country has more tree cover, Democratic Republic of the Congo or South Africa?
Democratic Republic of the Congo does: its measured cities average 28.4% tree cover against 21.8%, a gap of 6.6 percentage points.
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingSummed across measured cities. | 3.2M | 4.4M (better) |
| Cities below their targetShort of the canopy target. | 61% (better) | 73% |
| Trees still neededTo reach those targets. | 1.0M (better) | 2.2M |
Behind the averages
The cities behind Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa
An average says nothing about how far apart the best and worst places are. These are the measured cities at each end.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
South Africa
- Greenest measured city
- Pinetown60.7% tree cover
- Worst air right now
- EmalahleniAQI 221
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: 38 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 66 in South Africa, 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. South Africa rests on 66 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
Democratic Republic of the Congo vs South Africa: your questions answered
Is Democratic Republic of the Congo cleaner than South Africa?
On air quality, yes, right now: Democratic Republic of the Congo's cities average AQI 49 against 63 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, Democratic Republic of the Congo or South Africa?
Democratic Republic of the Congo has lost more: about 22.5 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 1.66 million ha in South Africa, or 14 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, Democratic Republic of the Congo or South Africa?
Democratic Republic of the Congo does: its measured cities average 28.4% tree cover against 21.8%, a gap of 6.6 percentage points.
How many cities are the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa figures based on?
38 measured cities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 66 in South Africa. 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 the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa?
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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