Air quality comparison · Egypt, 145 km apart
Port Said vs Suez Air quality index (AQI) today
Port Said has cleaner air than Suez right now: AQI 53 (Moderate) against 81 (Moderate).
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, Port Said averaged AQI 33 against 52, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Port Said has lost more forest since 2001. Port Said has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Port Said53Suez81
Head to head
Port Said vs Suez at a glance
Port Said is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Suez on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Port Said | Suez | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 53 (better) | 81 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 10.4 (better) | 21.2 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 33 (better) | 52 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 16 ha | under 1 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 1.1% (better) | 0.2% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 57.2K (better) | 93.6K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Port Said and Suez right now?
Port Said has cleaner air than Suez right now: AQI 53 (Moderate) against 81 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Suez's PM2.5 is about 1.4× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
Port SaidSuez
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).
Port Said: Estimate · model corrected with 9 station cities within 250 km, e.g. 10th of Ramadan City 1 and Obour. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 9 ground-station cities within 250 km, US EPA index.
Suez: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 105 km, e.g. 10th of Ramadan City 1 and New Cairo 1. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 105 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Port Said averaged AQI 33 against 52, 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
- Port Said7Suez0
- Average AQI
- Port Said33Suez52
- Worst day, AQI
- Port Said48Suez60
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Port Said | Suez |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 48 | 55 |
| Nov 6 | 44 | 52 |
| Nov 7 | 38 | 54 |
| Nov 8 | 39 | 60 |
| Nov 9 | 25 | 50 |
| Nov 10 | 18 | 53 |
| Nov 11 | 20 | 43 |
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 Port Said and Suez 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 Port Said and Suez compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Port Said's air is cleaner than 57% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Suez's is cleaner than 30%. Within Egypt, that is 95% and 56% of its 65 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Port Said
- Beats 57%
- Suez
- Beats 30%
More tree cover than…
- Port Said
- Beats 2%
- Suez
- Beats 0%
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, Port Said or Suez?
Port Said has lost more: about 16 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Suez. under 1 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: 2008, with 11 ha lost.
No forest lost in any year.
| Port Said | Suez | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 16 ha | under 1 ha (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | under 1 ha | under 1 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Storms, floods and other natural causes (76%) | Not classified |
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.
Port Said
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Suez
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Port Said or Suez?
Port Said has more tree cover: 1.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.2% around Suez, or about 2,177 trees against 628.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Port Said | Suez | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 2.2K (better) | 628 |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 57.2K (better) | 93.6K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 47.9K kg (better) | 13.8K 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
Port Said vs Suez: your questions answered
Is Port Said cleaner than Suez?
On air quality, yes, right now: Port Said reads AQI 53 against 81, 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Port Said averaged AQI 33 against 52, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Port Said and Suez today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Port Said reads AQI 53 and Suez reads AQI 81.
Which has lost more forest, Port Said or Suez?
Port Said has lost more: about 16 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Suez. under 1 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Port Said or Suez?
Port Said has more tree cover: 1.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.2% around Suez, or about 2,177 trees against 628. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Port Said and Suez need?
Port Said needs about 57,199 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Suez about 93,619 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Port Said and Suez 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 are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Port Said vs Suez 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 16, 2026 and Sep 16, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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