Country comparison · 149 cities measured
Spain vs United Kingdom Air quality index (AQI) and deforestation
Spain has cleaner air than United Kingdom right now: its cities average AQI 21 against 35.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Spain 24 (30 cities) and United Kingdom 32 (81 cities). Spain has lost more forest since 2001. United Kingdom has more tree cover in its cities.
Average of 57 cities
AQI 21
Good
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 24
- Tree cover
- 14.3%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1.79 million ha
Average of 92 cities
AQI 35
Good
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 32
- Tree cover
- 26.6%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 607,000 ha
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Spain21United Kingdom35
Head to head
Spain vs United Kingdom at a glance
United Kingdom is ahead on 3 of 6 measures, and Spain on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Spain | United Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|
| Average air qualityUS AQI, all measured cities. | 21 (better) | 35 |
| At ground stationsCities with a current station reading. | 24 (better) | 32 |
| Cities over AQI 100Not fine for sensitive groups. | 0% | 0% |
| Forest lost since 2001The whole country. | 1.79 million ha | 607,000 ha (better) |
| Share of its forest lostOf what it had in 2000. | 17% | 17% (better) |
| Average tree coverAcross its measured cities. | 14.3% | 26.6% (better) |
Air quality today
Is Spain cleaner than United Kingdom?
On air quality, yes, right now. Spain has cleaner air than United Kingdom right now: its cities average AQI 21 against 35.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are Spain 24 (30 cities) and United Kingdom 32 (81 cities).
0% of the measured cities in Spain are over AQI 100 today, the point where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, against 0% in the United Kingdom.
How each country's cities split across the air quality bands
Spain
- Good56 (98%)
- Moderate1 (2%)
United Kingdom
- Good66 (72%)
- Moderate26 (28%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
Against everywhere else
How do Spain and United Kingdom compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of Spain average cleaner air than 98% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and those of the United Kingdom than 80%.
Cleaner air than…
- Spain
- Beats 98%
- United Kingdom
- Beats 80%
More tree cover than…
- Spain
- Beats 28%
- United Kingdom
- Beats 58%
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which country has lost more forest, Spain or United Kingdom?
Spain has lost more: about 1.79 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 607,000 ha in the United Kingdom, or 3 times as much. 81,100 ha of Spain'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: 2025, with 153,000 ha lost.
Worst year: 2009, with 37,400 ha lost.
| Spain | United Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1.79 million ha | 607,000 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 17% | 17% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 81,100 ha | 15,700 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Holding steady | Holding steady |
| Main known cause | Logging (65%) | Logging (93%) |
Trees
Which country has more tree cover, Spain or United Kingdom?
United Kingdom does: its measured cities average 26.6% tree cover against 14.3%, a gap of 12.3 percentage points.
| Spain | United Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingSummed across measured cities. | 2.4M | 7.4M (better) |
| Cities below their targetShort of the canopy target. | 91% | 68% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach those targets. | 2.6M | 1.5M (better) |
Behind the averages
The cities behind Spain and United Kingdom
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: 57 in Spain and 92 in the United Kingdom, 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. United Kingdom rests on 92 cities against 57, so its average is the steadier of the two. Forest figures come from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
Frequently asked
Spain vs United Kingdom: your questions answered
Is Spain cleaner than United Kingdom?
On air quality, yes, right now: Spain's cities average AQI 21 against 35 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 Spain 24 (30 cities) and United Kingdom 32 (81 cities).
Which country has lost more forest, Spain or United Kingdom?
Spain has lost more: about 1.79 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 607,000 ha in the United Kingdom, or 3 times as much. 81,100 ha of Spain'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, Spain or United Kingdom?
United Kingdom does: its measured cities average 26.6% tree cover against 14.3%, a gap of 12.3 percentage points.
How many cities are the Spain and United Kingdom figures based on?
57 measured cities in Spain and 92 in the United Kingdom. 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 Spain and the United Kingdom?
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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