Air quality comparison · Tunisia, 120 km apart
Kairouan vs Sfax Air quality index (AQI) today
Sfax has cleaner air than Kairouan right now: AQI 53 (Moderate) against 55 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sfax averaged AQI 41 against 44, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Sfax has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kairouan55Sfax53
Head to head
Kairouan vs Sfax at a glance
Sfax is ahead on 5 of 5 measures, and Kairouan on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kairouan | Sfax | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 55 | 53 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 11.5 | 8.8 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 44 | 41 (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 0.4% | 0.9% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 93.0K | 86.9K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kairouan and Sfax right now?
Sfax has cleaner air than Kairouan right now: AQI 53 (Moderate) against 55 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
KairouanSfax
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).
Kairouan: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Sfax: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sfax averaged AQI 41 against 44, 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
- Kairouan1Sfax5
- Average AQI
- Kairouan44Sfax41
- Worst day, AQI
- Kairouan55Sfax55
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Kairouan | Sfax |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 39 | 37 |
| Nov 6 | 39 | 45 |
| Nov 7 | 38 | 37 |
| Nov 8 | 35 | 27 |
| Nov 9 | 45 | 38 |
| Nov 10 | 54 | 47 |
| Nov 11 | 55 | 55 |
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 Kairouan and Sfax 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 Kairouan and Sfax compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kairouan's air is cleaner than 53% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Sfax's is cleaner than 57%. Within Tunisia, that is 78% and 89% of its 10 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kairouan
- Beats 53%
- Sfax
- Beats 57%
More tree cover than…
- Kairouan
- Beats 1%
- Sfax
- Beats 2%
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.
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.
Kairouan
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Sfax
2018: satellite photo from September 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kairouan or Sfax?
Sfax has more tree cover: 0.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.4% around Kairouan, or about 2,689 trees against 1,257.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kairouan | Sfax | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 1.3K | 2.7K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 93.0K | 86.9K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 27.7K kg | 59.2K 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
Kairouan vs Sfax: your questions answered
Is Sfax cleaner than Kairouan?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sfax reads AQI 53 against 55, a gap of 2 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, Sfax averaged AQI 41 against 44, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kairouan and Sfax today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Kairouan reads AQI 55 and Sfax reads AQI 53.
Which has more trees, Kairouan or Sfax?
Sfax has more tree cover: 0.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.4% around Kairouan, or about 2,689 trees against 1,257. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kairouan and Sfax need?
Kairouan needs about 92,991 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Sfax about 86,941 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Kairouan and Sfax 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 are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Kairouan vs Sfax 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 (Sep 16, 2026 and Sep 11, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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