City report · Basque Country, Spain
Bilbao Air quality today
Air quality in Bilbao currently reads AQI 11 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 11
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 2.0
- tree cover
- 35.8%
- trees in this area
- 112K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Abando, Bilbao, Biscay, Spain (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 24, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Bilbao · AQI 11 (Good)
Bilbao's tree count comes to 112,244 trees across 12.54 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Bilbao today: AQI 11, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 17:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · PARQUE EUROPA, 2.1 km away · median of 9 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
2.0
PM10
7.5
NO₂
7.0
O₃
—
SO₂
2.0
CO
230.0
Data: OpenAQ · EEA
- Outdoor exercise
- A good day to be active outside
- Windows
- Open them to air the house
- Mask
- Not needed
- Air purifier
- Not needed
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Bilbao's daily AQI at 40 on average, from 11 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 86 on Nov 5.
Where Bilbao stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Bilbao: Healthy tree cover
35.8% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.54 km² of land.
Trees in this area
112,244
Target trees
112,244
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Bilbao lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Bilbao has lost about 4,560 hectares of forest (about 6,400 football pitches): 26% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 243 hectares (5.3%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km south of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 4,560 haabout 6,400 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 26%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 243 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is speeding up: about 291 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 194 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2024, when about 435 hectares of forest were lost.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 6 ha | 222 ha | 228 ha |
| 2002 | 4 ha | 88 ha | 92 ha |
| 2003 | 4 ha | 107 ha | 111 ha |
| 2004 | 15 ha | 225 ha | 240 ha |
| 2005 | 10 ha | 128 ha | 138 ha |
| 2006 | 14 ha | 160 ha | 174 ha |
| 2007 | 14 ha | 264 ha | 278 ha |
| 2008 | 5 ha | 111 ha | 116 ha |
| 2009 | 26 ha | 137 ha | 163 ha |
| 2010 | 29 ha | 57 ha | 85 ha |
| 2011 | 3 ha | 69 ha | 72 ha |
| 2012 | 8 ha | 111 ha | 119 ha |
| 2013 | 16 ha | 96 ha | 112 ha |
| 2014 | 3 ha | 94 ha | 97 ha |
| 2015 | 3 ha | 107 ha | 110 ha |
| 2016 | 5 ha | 211 ha | 216 ha |
| 2017 | 4 ha | 190 ha | 194 ha |
| 2018 | 31 ha | 199 ha | 230 ha |
| 2019 | 10 ha | 161 ha | 171 ha |
| 2020 | 3 ha | 156 ha | 158 ha |
| 2021 | 3 ha | 214 ha | 217 ha |
| 2022 | 4 ha | 296 ha | 300 ha |
| 2023 | 7 ha | 246 ha | 253 ha |
| 2024 | 11 ha | 424 ha | 435 ha |
| 2025 | 6 ha | 245 ha | 251 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Bilbao?
- Loggingcan grow back95% · 4,320 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good5.3% · 243 ha
Also: unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 20,000 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 20,000 ha
- Overall change
- −93 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Bilbao stayed about the same size, at about 20,000 hectares: new forest grew on about 569 hectares, and about 662 hectares were lost.
These 2000 and 2020 maps, from the University of Maryland, count any land with trees taller than 5 m as forest, including plantations and orchards. Forest that was cut or burned and had grown back by 2020 counts in both years, so the loss here is smaller than the yearly figures.
These figures cover everything within 10 km of the city center, a wider area than the report above, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, Global Forest Change (GFC-2025-v1.13); causes: WRI/Google DeepMind drivers of forest loss; both CC BY 4.0, summed by Airleaf for each area. Forest gained and lost 2000–2020: Potapov et al. 2022, UMD GLAD Global Land Cover and Land Use Change, CC BY 4.0. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
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Frequently asked
Questions about Bilbao
What is the air quality (AQI) in Bilbao right now?
The latest reading for Bilbao shows an AQI of 11 (Good), measured Nov 11, 17:00 local time by 9 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is PARQUE EUROPA, 2.1 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Bilbao today?
At AQI 11 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Bilbao been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Bilbao's daily AQI at 40 on average, from 11 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 86 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Bilbao lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Bilbao has lost about 4,560 hectares of forest (about 6,400 football pitches): 26% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 243 hectares (5.3%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Forest loss is speeding up: about 291 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 194 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Bilbao stayed about the same size, at about 20,000 hectares: new forest grew on about 569 hectares, and about 662 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Bilbao?
Bilbao has an estimated 112,244 trees across the 12.54 km² of land measured — 35.8% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Bilbao need?
Bilbao has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Bilbao's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Abando, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. Tree cover is measured from Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search satellite imagery at 10 m detail across a 2 km radius around Abando; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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