Country comparison · 171 cities measured
Germany vs Philippines Air quality index (AQI) and deforestation
Philippines has cleaner air than Germany right now: its cities average AQI 43 against 49.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Germany 49 (70 cities) and Philippines 68 (34 cities), which puts Germany ahead instead. Philippines has lost more forest since 2001. Philippines has more tree cover in its cities.
Average of 71 cities
AQI 49
Good
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 49
- Tree cover
- 38.4%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1.49 million ha
Average of 100 cities
AQI 43
Good
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 68
- Tree cover
- 40.9%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1.53 million ha
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Germany49Philippines43
Head to head
Germany vs Philippines at a glance
Germany and Philippines are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Germany | Philippines | |
|---|---|---|
| Average air qualityUS AQI, all measured cities. | 49 | 43 (better) |
| At ground stationsCities with a current station reading. | 49 (better) | 68 |
| Cities over AQI 100Not fine for sensitive groups. | 3% (better) | 10% |
| Forest lost since 2001The whole country. | 1.49 million ha (better) | 1.53 million ha |
| Share of its forest lostOf what it had in 2000. | 12% | 8.4% (better) |
| Average tree coverAcross its measured cities. | 38.4% | 40.9% (better) |
Air quality today
Is Philippines cleaner than Germany?
On air quality, yes, right now. Philippines has cleaner air than Germany right now: its cities average AQI 43 against 49.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Germany 49 (70 cities) and Philippines 68 (34 cities), which puts Germany ahead instead.
3% of the measured cities in Germany are over AQI 100 today, the point where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, against 10% in the Philippines.
How each country's cities split across the air quality bands
Germany
- Good30 (42%)
- Moderate39 (55%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups2 (3%)
Philippines
- Good66 (66%)
- Moderate24 (24%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups5 (5%)
- Unhealthy5 (5%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
Against everywhere else
How do Germany and Philippines compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of Germany average cleaner air than 53% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and those of the Philippines than 65%.
Cleaner air than…
- Germany
- Beats 53%
- Philippines
- Beats 65%
More tree cover than…
- Germany
- Beats 85%
- Philippines
- Beats 90%
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which country has lost more forest, Germany or Philippines?
Philippines has lost more: about 1.53 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 1.49 million ha in Germany. 939,000 ha of Philippines'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: 2021, with 202,000 ha lost.
Worst year: 2016, with 126,000 ha lost.
| Germany | Philippines | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1.49 million ha (better) | 1.53 million ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 12% | 8.4% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 43,700 ha (better) | 939,000 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Speeding up | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Logging (96%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (60%) |
Trees
Which country has more tree cover, Germany or Philippines?
Philippines does: its measured cities average 40.9% tree cover against 38.4%, a gap of 2.5 percentage points.
| Germany | Philippines | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingSummed across measured cities. | 8.3M | 11.3M (better) |
| Cities below their targetShort of the canopy target. | 17% (better) | 22% |
| Trees still neededTo reach those targets. | 190K (better) | 562K |
Behind the averages
The cities behind Germany and Philippines
An average says nothing about how far apart the best and worst places are. These are the measured cities at each end.
Germany
- Greenest measured city
- Bergisch Gladbach59.9% tree cover
- Worst air right now
- RegensburgAQI 127
Philippines
- Greenest measured city
- Catbalogan74.4% tree cover
- Worst air right now
- San Jose del MonteAQI 162
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: 71 in Germany and 100 in the Philippines, 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. Philippines rests on 100 cities against 71, so its average is the steadier of the two. Forest figures come from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
Frequently asked
Germany vs Philippines: your questions answered
Is Philippines cleaner than Germany?
On air quality, yes, right now: Philippines's cities average AQI 43 against 49 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 Germany 49 (70 cities) and Philippines 68 (34 cities), which puts Germany ahead instead.
Which country has lost more forest, Germany or Philippines?
Philippines has lost more: about 1.53 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 1.49 million ha in Germany. 939,000 ha of Philippines'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, Germany or Philippines?
Philippines does: its measured cities average 40.9% tree cover against 38.4%, a gap of 2.5 percentage points.
How many cities are the Germany and Philippines figures based on?
71 measured cities in Germany and 100 in the Philippines. 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 Germany and the Philippines?
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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