Country comparison
Italy vs South Africa
Averaged across every city Airleaf has measured in each country — 44 in Italy 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%.
Italy averages cleaner air — AQI 41 against 52.
- Tree cover gap
- 0.2 points
- South Africa is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 11 AQI
- Italy is cleaner.
- Cities behind it
- 44 vs 66
- How much each average rests on.
44 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.
41
52
Cities measured
How much each average rests on.
44
66
Trees still needed
Summed across measured cities, to reach their canopy targets. Fewer is better.
596K
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.
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 — 44 in Italy 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 44, so its average is the steadier of the two. Both firm up as coverage grows.
Frequently asked
Italy and South Africa, answered
Which country has more tree cover, Italy 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, Italy or South Africa?
Italy, averaging AQI 41 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?
44 measured cities in Italy 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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