Air quality comparison · Georgia, 162 km apart
Kutaisi vs Sokhumi Air quality index (AQI) today
Sokhumi has cleaner air than Kutaisi right now: AQI 13 (Good) against 41 (Good).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Sokhumi averaged AQI 16 against 26, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Kutaisi has lost more forest since 2001. Sokhumi has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kutaisi41Sokhumi13
Head to head
Kutaisi vs Sokhumi at a glance
Sokhumi is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Kutaisi on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kutaisi | Sokhumi | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 41 | 13 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 7.4 | 2.4 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 26 | 16 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 109 ha | 19 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 42.3% | 53.3% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kutaisi and Sokhumi right now?
Sokhumi has cleaner air than Kutaisi right now: AQI 13 (Good) against 41 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Kutaisi is read from a nearby ground station and Sokhumi is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
KutaisiSokhumi
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).
Kutaisi: Ground station · Lado Asatiani street, Kutaisi, Georgia, 2.1 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, საქართველოს გარემოს დაცვისა და სოფლის მეურნეობის სამინისტრო - Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.
Sokhumi: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 165 km, e.g. Batumi and Kutaisi. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 165 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Sokhumi averaged AQI 16 against 26, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 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
- Kutaisi0Sokhumi6
- Average AQI
- Kutaisi26Sokhumi16
- Worst day, AQI
- Kutaisi35Sokhumi22
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Kutaisi | Sokhumi |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 33 | 22 |
| Nov 6 | 29 | 17 |
| Nov 7 | 35 | 11 |
| Nov 8 | 15 | 13 |
| Nov 9 | 17 | 15 |
| Nov 10 | 26 | 17 |
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 Kutaisi and Sokhumi 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 Kutaisi and Sokhumi compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kutaisi's air is cleaner than 69% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Sokhumi's is cleaner than 95%. Within Georgia, that is 40% and 100% of its 6 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kutaisi
- Beats 69%
- Sokhumi
- Beats 95%
More tree cover than…
- Kutaisi
- Beats 86%
- Sokhumi
- Beats 94%
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, Kutaisi or Sokhumi?
Kutaisi has lost more: about 109 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 19 ha around Sokhumi. 6 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 40 ha lost.
Worst year: 2025, with 3 ha lost.
| Kutaisi | Sokhumi | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 109 ha | 19 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 1.3% | under 1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 6 ha (better) | 8 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (84%) | Towns and roads (25%) |
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.
Kutaisi
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Sokhumi
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kutaisi or Sokhumi?
Sokhumi has more tree cover: 53.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 42.3% around Kutaisi, or about 155,726 trees against 131,295.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kutaisi | Sokhumi | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 131K | 156K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.9M kg | 3.4M 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
Kutaisi vs Sokhumi: your questions answered
Is Sokhumi cleaner than Kutaisi?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sokhumi reads AQI 13 against 41, a gap of 28 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Sokhumi averaged AQI 16 against 26, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kutaisi and Sokhumi today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Kutaisi reads AQI 41 and Sokhumi reads AQI 13.
Which has lost more forest, Kutaisi or Sokhumi?
Kutaisi has lost more: about 109 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 19 ha around Sokhumi. 6 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Kutaisi or Sokhumi?
Sokhumi has more tree cover: 53.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 42.3% around Kutaisi, or about 155,726 trees against 131,295. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kutaisi and Sokhumi need?
Kutaisi needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Sokhumi about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Kutaisi and Sokhumi 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. Kutaisi is read from a nearby ground station and Sokhumi is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Kutaisi vs Sokhumi 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 17, 2026 and Sep 13, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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