Country comparison
France vs South Africa
Averaged across every city Airleaf has measured in each country — 39 in France and 66 in South Africa — 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.
South Africa averages more tree cover — 32.0% against 31.8%.
France averages cleaner air — AQI 37 against 52.
- Tree cover gap
- 0.2 points
- South Africa is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 15 AQI
- France is cleaner.
- Cities behind it
- 39 vs 66
- How much each average rests on.
39 cities measured
66 cities measured
Average tree cover
Mean across measured cities, each over the same 2 km radius.
31.8%
32.0%
Average air quality index
US EPA index. Lower is better.
37
52
Cities measured
How much each average rests on.
39
66
Trees standing
Summed across every measured city in each country.
3.7M
6.5M
Cities below their target
Share of measured cities short of the canopy target. Lower is better.
44% (17)
48% (32)
Trees still needed
Summed across measured cities, to reach their canopy targets. Fewer is better.
322K
1.2M
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.
France
- Greenest measured city
- Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines54.5% tree cover
- Worst air right now
- StrasbourgAQI 84
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 — 39 in France and 66 in South Africa — 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. South Africa rests on 66 cities against 39, so its average is the steadier of the two. Both firm up as coverage grows.
Frequently asked
France and South Africa, answered
Which country has more tree cover, France or South Africa?
South Africa, averaging 32.0% across its measured cities against 31.8% — a gap of 0.2 percentage points.
Which has cleaner air, France or South Africa?
France, averaging AQI 37 against 52 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?
39 measured cities in France 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.
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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