Air quality comparison · Germany, 612 km apart
Hamburg vs Munich Air quality index (AQI) today
Munich has cleaner air than Hamburg right now: AQI 53 (Moderate) against 69 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Munich averaged AQI 67 against 68, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days. Munich has lost more forest since 2001. Munich has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Hamburg69Munich53
Head to head
Hamburg vs Munich at a glance
Munich is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Hamburg on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Hamburg | Munich | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 69 | 53 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 18.6 | 10.1 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 68 | 67 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 67 ha (better) | 488 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 21.2% | 27.7% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 21.5K | 7.2K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Hamburg and Munich right now?
Munich has cleaner air than Hamburg right now: AQI 53 (Moderate) against 69 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Hamburg's PM2.5 is about 1.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
HamburgMunich
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Munich averaged AQI 67 against 68, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Hamburg3Munich3
- Average AQI
- Hamburg68Munich67
- Worst day, AQI
- Hamburg87Munich75
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Hamburg | Munich |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 43 | 63 |
| Nov 6 | 54 | 74 |
| Nov 7 | 58 | 75 |
| Nov 8 | 87 | 73 |
| Nov 9 | 85 | 69 |
| Nov 10 | 83 | 45 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Hamburg and Munich today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Hamburg and Munich compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Hamburg's air is cleaner than 38% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Munich's is cleaner than 56%. Within Germany, that is 41% and 74% of its 71 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Hamburg
- Beats 38%
- Munich
- Beats 56%
More tree cover than…
- Hamburg
- Beats 49%
- Munich
- Beats 64%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Hamburg or Munich?
Munich has lost more: about 488 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 67 ha around Hamburg. 19 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2019, with 9 ha lost.
Worst year: 2016, with 163 ha lost.
| Hamburg | Munich | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 67 ha (better) | 488 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 1% (better) | 7.5% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 51 ha | 19 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (74%) | Logging (94%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Hamburg
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Munich
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km south of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Hamburg or Munich?
Munich has more tree cover: 27.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 21.2% around Hamburg, or about 86,674 trees against 51,683.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Hamburg | Munich | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 51.7K | 86.7K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 21.5K | 7.2K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.1M kg | 1.9M kg (better) |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Hamburg vs Munich: your questions answered
Is Munich cleaner than Hamburg?
On air quality, yes, right now: Munich reads AQI 53 against 69, a gap of 16 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Munich averaged AQI 67 against 68, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Hamburg and Munich today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Hamburg reads AQI 69 and Munich reads AQI 53.
Which has lost more forest, Hamburg or Munich?
Munich has lost more: about 488 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 67 ha around Hamburg. 19 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Hamburg or Munich?
Munich has more tree cover: 27.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 21.2% around Hamburg, or about 86,674 trees against 51,683. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Hamburg and Munich need?
Hamburg needs about 21,453 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Munich about 7,197 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Hamburg and Munich measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Hamburg vs Munich comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Aug 14, 2026 and Sep 19, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare Hamburg with somewhere else
This place
Hamburg