Air quality comparison · Georgia, 348 km apart
Sokhumi vs Tbilisi Air quality index (AQI) today
Sokhumi has cleaner air than Tbilisi right now: AQI 13 (Good) against 62 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Sokhumi averaged AQI 16 against 22, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Sokhumi 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.
Sokhumi13Tbilisi62
Head to head
Sokhumi vs Tbilisi at a glance
Sokhumi is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Tbilisi on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Sokhumi | Tbilisi | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 13 (better) | 62 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 2.4 (better) | 14.9 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 16 (better) | 22 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 19 ha | 17 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 53.3% (better) | 23.3% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 20.5K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Sokhumi and Tbilisi right now?
Sokhumi has cleaner air than Tbilisi right now: AQI 13 (Good) against 62 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Tbilisi is read from a nearby ground station and Sokhumi is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
SokhumiTbilisi
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).
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.
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 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Sokhumi averaged AQI 16 against 22, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 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
- Sokhumi4Tbilisi2
- Average AQI
- Sokhumi16Tbilisi22
- Worst day, AQI
- Sokhumi22Tbilisi37
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Sokhumi | Tbilisi |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 22 | 37 |
| Nov 6 | 17 | 22 |
| Nov 7 | 11 | 29 |
| Nov 8 | 13 | 10 |
| Nov 9 | 15 | 11 |
| Nov 10 | 17 | 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 Sokhumi and Tbilisi today?
Sokhumi (AQI 13, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Tbilisi (AQI 62, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Sokhumi
- A good day to be active outside.
- Tbilisi
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Sokhumi
- Open them to air the house.
- Tbilisi
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Sokhumi
- Not needed.
- Tbilisi
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Sokhumi
- Not needed.
- Tbilisi
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Sokhumi and Tbilisi compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Sokhumi's air is cleaner than 95% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Tbilisi's is cleaner than 44%. Within Georgia, that is 100% and 0% of its 6 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Sokhumi
- Beats 95%
- Tbilisi
- Beats 44%
More tree cover than…
- Sokhumi
- Beats 94%
- 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, Sokhumi or Tbilisi?
Sokhumi has lost more: about 19 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 17 ha around Tbilisi. 8 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: 2025, with 3 ha lost.
Worst year: 2011, with 2 ha lost.
| Sokhumi | Tbilisi | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 19 ha | 17 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | under 1% (better) | 1.1% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 8 ha (better) | 11 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (25%) | 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.
Sokhumi
2017: satellite photo from September 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, Sokhumi or Tbilisi?
Sokhumi has more tree cover: 53.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 23.3% around Tbilisi, or about 155,726 trees against 71,442.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Sokhumi | Tbilisi | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 156K (better) | 71.4K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 20.5K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 3.4M 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
Sokhumi vs Tbilisi: your questions answered
Is Sokhumi cleaner than Tbilisi?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sokhumi reads AQI 13 against 62, a gap of 49 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 22, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Sokhumi and Tbilisi today?
In Sokhumi, at AQI 13: 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, Sokhumi or Tbilisi?
Sokhumi has lost more: about 19 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 17 ha around Tbilisi. 8 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Sokhumi or Tbilisi?
Sokhumi has more tree cover: 53.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 23.3% around Tbilisi, or about 155,726 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 Sokhumi and Tbilisi need?
Sokhumi 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 Sokhumi 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. Tbilisi 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 Sokhumi 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 13, 2026 and Sep 15, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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