Air quality comparison · Georgia, 188 km apart
Kutaisi vs Tbilisi Air quality index (AQI) today
Kutaisi has cleaner air than Tbilisi right now: AQI 41 (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, both averaged AQI 27. Kutaisi has lost more forest since 2001. Kutaisi has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kutaisi41Tbilisi62
Head to head
Kutaisi vs Tbilisi at a glance
Kutaisi is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Tbilisi on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kutaisi | Tbilisi | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 41 (better) | 62 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 7.4 (better) | 14.9 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 27 | 27 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 109 ha | 17 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 42.3% (better) | 23.3% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 20.5K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kutaisi and Tbilisi right now?
Kutaisi has cleaner air than Tbilisi right now: AQI 41 (Good) against 62 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
KutaisiTbilisi
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.
Tbilisi: Ground station · Varketili, Tbilisi, Georgia, 3.6 km away · median of 2 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, საქართველოს გარემოს დაცვისა და სოფლის მეურნეობის სამინისტრო - Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 27. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Kutaisi2Tbilisi5
- Average AQI
- Kutaisi27Tbilisi27
- Worst day, AQI
- Kutaisi37Tbilisi63
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Kutaisi | Tbilisi |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 37 | 63 |
| Nov 5 | 33 | 37 |
| Nov 6 | 29 | 22 |
| Nov 7 | 35 | 29 |
| Nov 8 | 15 | 10 |
| Nov 9 | 17 | 11 |
| Nov 10 | 26 | 20 |
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 Tbilisi today?
Kutaisi (AQI 41, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Tbilisi (AQI 62, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Kutaisi
- A good day to be active outside.
- Tbilisi
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Kutaisi
- Open them to air the house.
- Tbilisi
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Kutaisi
- Not needed.
- Tbilisi
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Kutaisi
- Not needed.
- Tbilisi
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Kutaisi and Tbilisi compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kutaisi's air is cleaner than 69% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Tbilisi's is cleaner than 44%. Within Georgia, that is 40% and 0% of its 6 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kutaisi
- Beats 69%
- Tbilisi
- Beats 44%
More tree cover than…
- Kutaisi
- Beats 86%
- Tbilisi
- Beats 54%
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 Tbilisi?
Kutaisi has lost more: about 109 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 17 ha around Tbilisi. 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: 2011, with 2 ha lost.
| Kutaisi | Tbilisi | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 109 ha | 17 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 1.3% | 1.1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 6 ha (better) | 11 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 (42%) |
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.
Tbilisi
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kutaisi or Tbilisi?
Kutaisi has more tree cover: 42.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 23.3% around Tbilisi, or about 131,295 trees against 71,442.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kutaisi | Tbilisi | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 131K (better) | 71.4K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 20.5K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.9M kg (better) | 1.6M kg |
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 Tbilisi: your questions answered
Is Kutaisi cleaner than Tbilisi?
On air quality, yes, right now: Kutaisi reads AQI 41 against 62, a gap of 21 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, both averaged AQI 27.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kutaisi and Tbilisi today?
In Kutaisi, at AQI 41: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Tbilisi, at AQI 62: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Kutaisi or Tbilisi?
Kutaisi has lost more: about 109 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 17 ha around Tbilisi. 6 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Kutaisi or Tbilisi?
Kutaisi has more tree cover: 42.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 23.3% around Tbilisi, or about 131,295 trees against 71,442. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kutaisi and Tbilisi need?
Kutaisi needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Tbilisi about 20,544 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Kutaisi and Tbilisi 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 Kutaisi vs Tbilisi 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 15, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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