Air quality comparison · Sweden, 513 km apart
Malmö vs Stockholm Air quality index (AQI) today
Stockholm has cleaner air than Malmö right now: AQI 27 (Good) against 61 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Stockholm averaged AQI 26 against 45, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Stockholm has lost more forest since 2001. Stockholm has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Malmö61Stockholm27
Head to head
Malmö vs Stockholm at a glance
Stockholm is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Malmö on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Malmö | Stockholm | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 61 | 27 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 14.2 | 4.8 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 45 | 26 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 12 ha (better) | 430 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 15.3% | 23.3% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 42.3K | 16.3K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Malmö and Stockholm right now?
Stockholm has cleaner air than Malmö right now: AQI 27 (Good) against 61 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
MalmöStockholm
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).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Stockholm averaged AQI 26 against 45, 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
- Malmö0Stockholm7
- Average AQI
- Malmö45Stockholm26
- Worst day, AQI
- Malmö66Stockholm44
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Malmö | Stockholm |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 25 | 20 |
| Nov 5 | 50 | 15 |
| Nov 6 | 30 | 22 |
| Nov 7 | 28 | 21 |
| Nov 8 | 53 | 25 |
| Nov 9 | 66 | 34 |
| Nov 10 | 63 | 44 |
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 Malmö and Stockholm today?
Malmö (AQI 61, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Stockholm (AQI 27, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Malmö
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Stockholm
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Malmö
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Stockholm
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Malmö
- Not needed for most people.
- Stockholm
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Malmö
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Stockholm
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Malmö and Stockholm compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Malmö's air is cleaner than 47% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Stockholm's is cleaner than 82%. Within Sweden, that is 0% and 60% of its 11 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Malmö
- Beats 47%
- Stockholm
- Beats 82%
More tree cover than…
- Malmö
- Beats 35%
- Stockholm
- 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, Malmö or Stockholm?
Stockholm has lost more: about 430 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 12 ha around Malmö. 280 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: 2001, with 2 ha lost.
Worst year: 2006, with 40 ha lost.
| Malmö | Stockholm | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 12 ha (better) | 430 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 1.8% (better) | 3.5% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 6 ha (better) | 280 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (45%) | Towns and roads (65%) |
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.
Malmö
2018: satellite photo from July 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Stockholm
2018: satellite photo from July 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Malmö or Stockholm?
Stockholm has more tree cover: 23.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.3% around Malmö, or about 56,729 trees against 44,077.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Malmö | Stockholm | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 44.1K | 56.7K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 42.3K | 16.3K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 970K kg | 1.2M 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
Malmö vs Stockholm: your questions answered
Is Stockholm cleaner than Malmö?
On air quality, yes, right now: Stockholm reads AQI 27 against 61, a gap of 34 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, Stockholm averaged AQI 26 against 45, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Malmö and Stockholm today?
In Malmö, at AQI 61: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Stockholm, at AQI 27: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Malmö or Stockholm?
Stockholm has lost more: about 430 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 12 ha around Malmö. 280 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Malmö or Stockholm?
Stockholm has more tree cover: 23.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.3% around Malmö, or about 56,729 trees against 44,077. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Malmö and Stockholm need?
Malmö needs about 42,348 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Stockholm about 16,313 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Malmö and Stockholm 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 Malmö vs Stockholm 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 10, 2026 and Sep 14, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare Malmö with somewhere else
This place
Malmö