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Airleaf

Country comparison

Indonesia vs South Korea

Averaged across every city Airleaf has measured in each country — 156 in Indonesia and 56 in South Korea — 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 Korea averages more tree cover — 41.8% against 29.5%.

South Korea averages cleaner air — AQI 58 against 110.

Tree cover gap
12.4 points
South Korea is ahead.
Air quality gap
52 AQI
South Korea is cleaner.
Cities behind it
156 vs 56
How much each average rests on.
Indonesia

156 cities measured

South Korea

56 cities measured

Average tree cover

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

29.5%

41.8%

Average air quality index

US EPA index. Lower is better.

110

58

Cities measured

How much each average rests on.

156

56

Trees standing

Summed across every measured city in each country.

13.8M

7.1M

Cities below their target

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

64% (100)

30% (17)

Trees still needed

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

4.9M

384K

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.

Indonesia

Greenest measured city
Banjar95.4% tree cover
Worst air right now
PalangkarayaAQI 749

South Korea

Greenest measured city
Geoje82.4% tree cover
Worst air right now
AndongAQI 88

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 — 156 in Indonesia and 56 in South Korea — 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. Indonesia rests on 156 cities against 56, so its average is the steadier of the two. Both firm up as coverage grows.

Frequently asked

Indonesia and South Korea, answered

Which country has more tree cover, Indonesia or South Korea?

South Korea, averaging 41.8% across its measured cities against 29.5% — a gap of 12.4 percentage points.

Which has cleaner air, Indonesia or South Korea?

South Korea, averaging AQI 58 against 110 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?

156 measured cities in Indonesia and 56 in South Korea. 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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Indonesia