Air quality comparison · Vietnam, 1137 km apart
Hanoi vs Ho Chi Minh City Air quality index (AQI) today
Ho Chi Minh City has cleaner air than Hanoi right now: AQI 44 (Good) against 162 (Unhealthy).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Ho Chi Minh City averaged AQI 79 against 82, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Ho Chi Minh City has lost more forest since 2001. Hanoi has more tree cover.
Vietnam
AQI 162
Unhealthy
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 71 µg/m³4.7× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 00:50 local
Vietnam
AQI 44
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 8 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 00:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Hanoi162Ho Chi Minh City44
Head to head
Hanoi vs Ho Chi Minh City at a glance
Ho Chi Minh City is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Hanoi on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Hanoi | Ho Chi Minh City | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 162 | 44 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 71 | 8 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 82 | 79 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 11 ha (better) | 50 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 18.7% (better) | 9.7% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 65.6K | 63.8K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City right now?
Ho Chi Minh City has cleaner air than Hanoi right now: AQI 44 (Good) against 162 (Unhealthy). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Hanoi's PM2.5 is about 4.7× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
HanoiHo Chi Minh City
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).
Hanoi: Ground station · Số 1 đường Giải Phóng - phường Bạch Mai - ĐHBK , 2.1 km away · median of 3 stations. Data: OpenAQ · Hanoi Air Quality Monitoring Network, World Air Quality Index Project, UNIS - United Nations International School Of Hanoi.
Ho Chi Minh City: Ground station · CMT8, 6.1 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Thomas Versteeg.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Ho Chi Minh City averaged AQI 79 against 82, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- Hanoi2Ho Chi Minh City5
- Average AQI
- Hanoi82Ho Chi Minh City79
- Worst day, AQI
- Hanoi147Ho Chi Minh City98
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Hanoi | Ho Chi Minh City |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 73 | 70 |
| Nov 6 | 80 | 78 |
| Nov 7 | 77 | 72 |
| Nov 8 | 91 | 77 |
| Nov 9 | 44 | 79 |
| Nov 10 | 61 | 76 |
| Nov 11 | 147 | 98 |
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 Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City today?
Hanoi (AQI 162, Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Ho Chi Minh City (AQI 44, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Hanoi
- Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it.
- Ho Chi Minh City
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Hanoi
- Keep them closed.
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Hanoi
- Wear an N95 outdoors.
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Hanoi
- Run one.
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Hanoi's air is cleaner than 7% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Ho Chi Minh City's is cleaner than 66%. Within Vietnam, that is 0% and 37% of its 114 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Hanoi
- Beats 7%
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Beats 66%
More tree cover than…
- Hanoi
- Beats 43%
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Beats 20%
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, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City?
Ho Chi Minh City has lost more: about 50 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 11 ha around Hanoi. 37 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: 2005, with 3 ha lost.
Worst year: 2001, with 17 ha lost.
| Hanoi | Ho Chi Minh City | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 11 ha (better) | 50 ha |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 4 ha (better) | 37 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (34%) | Towns and roads (42%) |
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.
Hanoi
2017: satellite photo from December 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Ho Chi Minh City
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City?
Hanoi has more tree cover: 18.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.7% around Ho Chi Minh City, or about 57,632 trees against 30,473.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Hanoi | Ho Chi Minh City | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 57.6K (better) | 30.5K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 65.6K | 63.8K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.3M kg (better) | 670K kg |
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
Hanoi vs Ho Chi Minh City: your questions answered
Is Ho Chi Minh City cleaner than Hanoi?
On air quality, yes, right now: Ho Chi Minh City reads AQI 44 against 162, a gap of 118 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Ho Chi Minh City averaged AQI 79 against 82, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City today?
In Hanoi, at AQI 162: Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so. In Ho Chi Minh City, at AQI 44: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City?
Ho Chi Minh City has lost more: about 50 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 11 ha around Hanoi. 37 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City?
Hanoi has more tree cover: 18.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.7% around Ho Chi Minh City, or about 57,632 trees against 30,473. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City need?
Hanoi needs about 65,645 more to reach its canopy target of 40%, and Ho Chi Minh City about 63,774 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City 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 Hanoi vs Ho Chi Minh City 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 10, 2026 and Apr 26, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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