Air quality comparison · Zambia, 49 km apart
Kitwe vs Ndola Air quality index (AQI) today
Kitwe has cleaner air than Ndola right now: AQI 52 (Moderate) against 58 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Ndola averaged AQI 67 against 69, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Ndola has lost more forest since 2001. Ndola has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kitwe52Ndola58
Head to head
Kitwe vs Ndola at a glance
Kitwe and Ndola are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kitwe | Ndola | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 52 (better) | 58 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 11.7 (better) | 11.8 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 69 | 67 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 955 ha (better) | 2,860 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 16.8% | 22.8% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 41.5K | 22.6K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kitwe and Ndola right now?
Kitwe has cleaner air than Ndola right now: AQI 52 (Moderate) against 58 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
KitweNdola
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).
Kitwe: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Ndola: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Ndola averaged AQI 67 against 69, 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
- Kitwe1Ndola5
- Average AQI
- Kitwe69Ndola67
- Worst day, AQI
- Kitwe85Ndola79
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Kitwe | Ndola |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 68 | 64 |
| Nov 6 | 85 | 79 |
| Nov 7 | 77 | 74 |
| Nov 8 | 61 | 59 |
| Nov 9 | 73 | 71 |
| Nov 10 | 50 | 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 Kitwe and Ndola 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 Kitwe and Ndola compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kitwe's air is cleaner than 59% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Ndola's is cleaner than 50%. Within Zambia, that is 65% and 47% of its 18 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kitwe
- Beats 59%
- Ndola
- Beats 50%
More tree cover than…
- Kitwe
- Beats 39%
- Ndola
- Beats 53%
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, Kitwe or Ndola?
Ndola has lost more: about 2,860 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 955 ha around Kitwe. 278 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: 2010, with 181 ha lost.
Worst year: 2012, with 1,150 ha lost.
| Kitwe | Ndola | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 955 ha (better) | 2,860 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 47% (better) | 67% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 387 ha | 278 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (39%) | Logging (90%) |
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.
Kitwe
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
Ndola
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 5 km west of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kitwe or Ndola?
Ndola has more tree cover: 22.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.8% around Kitwe, or about 71,628 trees against 52,779.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kitwe | Ndola | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 52.8K | 71.6K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 41.5K | 22.6K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.2M kg | 1.6M 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
Kitwe vs Ndola: your questions answered
Is Kitwe cleaner than Ndola?
On air quality, yes, right now: Kitwe reads AQI 52 against 58, a gap of 6 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Ndola averaged AQI 67 against 69, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kitwe and Ndola today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Kitwe reads AQI 52 and Ndola reads AQI 58.
Which has lost more forest, Kitwe or Ndola?
Ndola has lost more: about 2,860 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 955 ha around Kitwe. 278 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Kitwe or Ndola?
Ndola has more tree cover: 22.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.8% around Kitwe, or about 71,628 trees against 52,779. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kitwe and Ndola need?
Kitwe needs about 41,469 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Ndola about 22,619 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 49 km apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Kitwe and Ndola 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 Kitwe vs Ndola 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 17, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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