Air quality comparison · Taiwan, 298 km apart
Kaohsiung vs Taipei Air quality index (AQI) today
Taipei has cleaner air than Kaohsiung right now: AQI 32 (Good) against 62 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Taipei averaged AQI 68 against 105, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Taipei has lost more forest since 2001. Taipei has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kaohsiung62Taipei32
Head to head
Kaohsiung vs Taipei at a glance
Taipei is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Kaohsiung on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kaohsiung | Taipei | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 62 | 32 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 15 | 4 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 105 | 68 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 12 ha (better) | 55 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 10.8% | 13.7% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 60.0K | 51.1K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kaohsiung and Taipei right now?
Taipei has cleaner air than Kaohsiung right now: AQI 32 (Good) against 62 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in Kaohsiung, and Ozone in Taipei.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
KaohsiungTaipei
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).
Kaohsiung: Ground station · 高雄市 - 前鎮, 1.4 km away · median of 7 stations. Data: OpenAQ · Taiwan, Ministry of Environment, Taiwan (Open Government Data License 1.0).
Taipei: Ground station · 新北市 - 菜寮, 4.9 km away · median of 12 stations. Data: OpenAQ · Taiwan, Ministry of Environment, Taiwan (Open Government Data License 1.0).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Taipei averaged AQI 68 against 105, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 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
- Kaohsiung0Taipei7
- Average AQI
- Kaohsiung105Taipei68
- Worst day, AQI
- Kaohsiung138Taipei102
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Kaohsiung | Taipei |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 117 | 102 |
| Nov 6 | 138 | 60 |
| Nov 7 | 121 | 67 |
| Nov 8 | 95 | 64 |
| Nov 9 | 99 | 61 |
| Nov 10 | 70 | 63 |
| Nov 11 | 96 | 62 |
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 Kaohsiung and Taipei today?
Kaohsiung (AQI 62, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Taipei (AQI 32, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Kaohsiung
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Taipei
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Kaohsiung
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Taipei
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Kaohsiung
- Not needed for most people.
- Taipei
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Kaohsiung
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Taipei
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Kaohsiung and Taipei compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kaohsiung's air is cleaner than 46% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Taipei's is cleaner than 77%. Within Taiwan, that is 24% and 65% of its 18 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kaohsiung
- Beats 46%
- Taipei
- Beats 77%
More tree cover than…
- Kaohsiung
- Beats 23%
- Taipei
- Beats 31%
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, Kaohsiung or Taipei?
Taipei has lost more: about 55 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 12 ha around Kaohsiung. 36 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: 2024, with 3 ha lost.
Worst year: 2001, with 5 ha lost.
| Kaohsiung | Taipei | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 12 ha (better) | 55 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | under 1% (better) | under 1% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 9 ha (better) | 36 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (60%) | Towns and roads (63%) |
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.
Kaohsiung
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Taipei
2018: satellite photo from September 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kaohsiung or Taipei?
Taipei has more tree cover: 13.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.8% around Kaohsiung, or about 42,954 trees against 33,760.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kaohsiung | Taipei | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 33.8K | 43.0K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 60.0K | 51.1K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 743K kg | 945K 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
Kaohsiung vs Taipei: your questions answered
Is Taipei cleaner than Kaohsiung?
On air quality, yes, right now: Taipei reads AQI 32 against 62, a gap of 30 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, Taipei averaged AQI 68 against 105, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kaohsiung and Taipei today?
In Kaohsiung, at AQI 62: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Taipei, at AQI 32: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Kaohsiung or Taipei?
Taipei has lost more: about 55 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 12 ha around Kaohsiung. 36 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Kaohsiung or Taipei?
Taipei has more tree cover: 13.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.8% around Kaohsiung, or about 42,954 trees against 33,760. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kaohsiung and Taipei need?
Kaohsiung needs about 60,017 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Taipei about 51,106 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Kaohsiung and Taipei 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 Kaohsiung vs Taipei 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 18, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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