Air quality comparison · Malaysia, 227 km apart
Kota Kinabalu vs Sandakan Air quality index (AQI) today
Sandakan has cleaner air than Kota Kinabalu right now: AQI 37 (Good) against 40 (Good).
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, Sandakan averaged AQI 22 against 48, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Sandakan has lost more forest since 2001. Sandakan has more tree cover.
Malaysia
AQI 40
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 7.2 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 00:00 local
Malaysia
AQI 37
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 6.7 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.
Kota Kinabalu40Sandakan37
Head to head
Kota Kinabalu vs Sandakan at a glance
Sandakan is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Kota Kinabalu on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kota Kinabalu | Sandakan | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 40 | 37 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 7.2 | 6.7 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 48 | 22 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,720 ha (better) | 2,060 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 43.1% | 69.3% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan right now?
Sandakan has cleaner air than Kota Kinabalu right now: AQI 37 (Good) against 40 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
Kota KinabaluSandakan
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).
Kota Kinabalu: Ground station · Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, 9.6 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Malaysia Department of Environment (DOE); Air Polluant Index Management System.
Sandakan: Ground station · Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia, 4 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Malaysia Department of Environment (DOE); Air Polluant Index Management System.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sandakan averaged AQI 22 against 48, 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
- Kota Kinabalu0Sandakan7
- Average AQI
- Kota Kinabalu48Sandakan22
- Worst day, AQI
- Kota Kinabalu56Sandakan33
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Kota Kinabalu | Sandakan |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 49 | 33 |
| Nov 6 | 54 | 26 |
| Nov 7 | 42 | 19 |
| Nov 8 | 41 | 16 |
| Nov 9 | 40 | 20 |
| Nov 10 | 54 | 20 |
| Nov 11 | 56 | 19 |
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 Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan today?
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Both are in the same EPA band today (Good), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
A good day to be active outside.
Windows
Open them to air the house.
Masks
Not needed.
Air purifier
Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kota Kinabalu's air is cleaner than 70% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Sandakan's is cleaner than 73%. Within Malaysia, that is 80% and 84% of its 56 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kota Kinabalu
- Beats 70%
- Sandakan
- Beats 73%
More tree cover than…
- Kota Kinabalu
- Beats 87%
- Sandakan
- Beats 98%
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, Kota Kinabalu or Sandakan?
Sandakan has lost more: about 2,060 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,720 ha around Kota Kinabalu. 1,960 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: 2012, with 138 ha lost.
Worst year: 2011, with 299 ha lost.
| Kota Kinabalu | Sandakan | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,720 ha (better) | 2,060 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 24% | 23% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 1,680 ha (better) | 1,960 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (91%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (50%) |
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.
Kota Kinabalu
2018: satellite photo from June 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km east of the city center.
Sandakan
2017: satellite photo from April 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kota Kinabalu or Sandakan?
Sandakan has more tree cover: 69.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 43.1% around Kota Kinabalu, or about 111,686 trees against 98,709.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kota Kinabalu | Sandakan | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 98.7K | 112K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.2M kg | 2.5M 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
Kota Kinabalu vs Sandakan: your questions answered
Is Sandakan cleaner than Kota Kinabalu?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sandakan reads AQI 37 against 40, a gap of 3 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, Sandakan averaged AQI 22 against 48, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Kota Kinabalu reads AQI 40 and Sandakan reads AQI 37.
Which has lost more forest, Kota Kinabalu or Sandakan?
Sandakan has lost more: about 2,060 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,720 ha around Kota Kinabalu. 1,960 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Kota Kinabalu or Sandakan?
Sandakan has more tree cover: 69.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 43.1% around Kota Kinabalu, or about 111,686 trees against 98,709. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan need?
Kota Kinabalu needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Sandakan about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan 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 Kota Kinabalu vs Sandakan 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 2, 2026 and Sep 13, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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