Air quality comparison · Nigeria, 442 km apart
Lagos vs Port Harcourt Air quality index (AQI) today
Port Harcourt has cleaner air than Lagos right now: AQI 85 (Moderate) against 91 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Lagos averaged AQI 66 against 76, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Port Harcourt has lost more forest since 2001. Port Harcourt has more tree cover.
Nigeria
AQI 91
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 30.4 µg/m³2.0× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 19:14 local
Nigeria
AQI 85
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 27.6 µg/m³1.8× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 19:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Lagos91Port Harcourt85
Head to head
Lagos vs Port Harcourt at a glance
Port Harcourt is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Lagos on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Lagos | Port Harcourt | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 91 | 85 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 30.4 | 27.6 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 66 (better) | 76 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 31 ha (better) | 135 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 0.3% | 12.6% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 53.6K | 45.9K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Lagos and Port Harcourt right now?
Port Harcourt has cleaner air than Lagos right now: AQI 85 (Moderate) against 91 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Lagos's PM2.5 is about 2.0× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Port Harcourt's PM2.5 is about 1.8× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
LagosPort Harcourt
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).
Lagos: Ground station · Ikoyi-Obalende LCDA, Ikoyi Lagos, 1.8 km away · median of 7 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, HabitatMap, Air Quality for Collective Public Health Action Project, LAMATA, HabitatMap · AirCasting, Uniport-UCAM Urban AQ.
Port Harcourt: Ground station · Ohaeto Street, Dline Port Harcourt, Rivers State, 2.6 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Media Awareness and Justice Initiative.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Lagos averaged AQI 66 against 76, 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
- Lagos7Port Harcourt0
- Average AQI
- Lagos66Port Harcourt76
- Worst day, AQI
- Lagos72Port Harcourt87
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Lagos | Port Harcourt |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 68 | 87 |
| Nov 5 | 62 | 78 |
| Nov 6 | 68 | 70 |
| Nov 7 | 66 | 73 |
| Nov 8 | 68 | 71 |
| Nov 9 | 72 | 83 |
| Nov 10 | 60 | 72 |
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 Lagos and Port Harcourt 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 Lagos and Port Harcourt compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Lagos's air is cleaner than 25% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Port Harcourt's is cleaner than 28%. Within Nigeria, that is 21% and 27% of its 99 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Lagos
- Beats 25%
- Port Harcourt
- Beats 28%
More tree cover than…
- Lagos
- Beats 1%
- Port Harcourt
- Beats 28%
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, Lagos or Port Harcourt?
Port Harcourt has lost more: about 135 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 31 ha around Lagos. 124 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: 2004, with 4 ha lost.
Worst year: 2014, with 30 ha lost.
| Lagos | Port Harcourt | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 31 ha (better) | 135 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 10% | 1.9% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 29 ha (better) | 124 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (70%) | Towns and roads (56%) |
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.
Lagos
2019: satellite photo from January 2019 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Port Harcourt
2018: satellite photo from January 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Lagos or Port Harcourt?
Port Harcourt has more tree cover: 12.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.3% around Lagos, or about 33,251 trees against 541.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Lagos | Port Harcourt | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 541 | 33.3K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 53.6K | 45.9K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 11.9K kg | 732K 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
Lagos vs Port Harcourt: your questions answered
Is Port Harcourt cleaner than Lagos?
On air quality, yes, right now: Port Harcourt reads AQI 85 against 91, 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Lagos averaged AQI 66 against 76, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Lagos and Port Harcourt today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Lagos reads AQI 91 and Port Harcourt reads AQI 85.
Which has lost more forest, Lagos or Port Harcourt?
Port Harcourt has lost more: about 135 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 31 ha around Lagos. 124 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Lagos or Port Harcourt?
Port Harcourt has more tree cover: 12.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.3% around Lagos, or about 33,251 trees against 541. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Lagos and Port Harcourt need?
Lagos needs about 53,557 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Port Harcourt about 45,918 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Lagos and Port Harcourt 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 Lagos vs Port Harcourt 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 (Jan 24, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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