Air quality comparison · Croatia, 259 km apart
Split vs Zagreb Air quality index (AQI) today
Split has cleaner air than Zagreb right now: AQI 70 (Moderate) against 106 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Split averaged AQI 66 against 89, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Split has lost more forest since 2001. Zagreb has more tree cover.
Croatia
AQI 70
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 16.2 µg/m³1.1× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 12:00 local
Croatia
AQI 106
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 37.7 µg/m³2.5× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 18:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Split70Zagreb106
Head to head
Split vs Zagreb at a glance
Split is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Zagreb on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Split | Zagreb | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 70 (better) | 106 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 16.2 (better) | 37.7 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 66 (better) | 89 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 298 ha | 158 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 29.2% | 33.3% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 1.7K (better) | 5.3K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Split and Zagreb right now?
Split has cleaner air than Zagreb right now: AQI 70 (Moderate) against 106 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Split's PM2.5 is about 1.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Zagreb's PM2.5 is about 2.5× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Zagreb is read from a nearby ground station and Split is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
SplitZagreb
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).
Split: Estimate · model corrected with 6 station cities within 225 km, e.g. Mostar and Zenica. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 6 ground-station cities within 225 km, US EPA index.
Zagreb: Ground station · Zagreb, Ljudevita Posavskog, 1.5 km away · median of 5 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Dts, Antun, AirSync.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Split averaged AQI 66 against 89, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- Split5Zagreb1
- Average AQI
- Split66Zagreb89
- Worst day, AQI
- Split85Zagreb113
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Split | Zagreb |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 63 | 78 |
| Nov 6 | 76 | 87 |
| Nov 7 | 85 | 74 |
| Nov 8 | 63 | 95 |
| Nov 9 | 61 | 113 |
| Nov 10 | 46 | 88 |
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 Split and Zagreb today?
Split (AQI 70, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Zagreb (AQI 106, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Exercise outdoors
- Split
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Zagreb
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
Windows
- Split
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Zagreb
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
Masks
- Split
- Not needed for most people.
- Zagreb
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
- Split
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Zagreb
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
Against everywhere else
How do Split and Zagreb compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Split's air is cleaner than 38% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Zagreb's is cleaner than 20%. Within Croatia, that is 50% and 0% of its 5 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Split
- Beats 38%
- Zagreb
- Beats 20%
More tree cover than…
- Split
- Beats 67%
- Zagreb
- Beats 75%
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, Split or Zagreb?
Split has lost more: about 298 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 158 ha around Zagreb. 16 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 80 ha lost.
Worst year: 2014, with 37 ha lost.
| Split | Zagreb | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 298 ha | 158 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 26% | 1.9% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 16 ha (better) | 29 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Wildfires (91%) | Logging (74%) |
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.
Split
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km east of the city center.
Zagreb
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km north of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Split or Zagreb?
Zagreb has more tree cover: 33.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 29.2% around Split, or about 104,615 trees against 62,930.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Split | Zagreb | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 62.9K | 105K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 1.7K (better) | 5.3K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.4M kg | 2.3M 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
Split vs Zagreb: your questions answered
Is Split cleaner than Zagreb?
On air quality, yes, right now: Split reads AQI 70 against 106, a gap of 36 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, Split averaged AQI 66 against 89, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Split and Zagreb today?
In Split, at AQI 70: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Zagreb, at AQI 106: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Which has lost more forest, Split or Zagreb?
Split has lost more: about 298 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 158 ha around Zagreb. 16 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Split or Zagreb?
Zagreb has more tree cover: 33.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 29.2% around Split, or about 104,615 trees against 62,930. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Split and Zagreb need?
Split needs about 1,724 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Zagreb about 5,341 to reach 35%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Split and Zagreb 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. Zagreb is read from a nearby ground station and Split 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 Split vs Zagreb 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 16, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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