City report · Queensland, Australia
Brisbane Air quality today
Air quality in Brisbane currently reads AQI 11 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 11
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 2.0
- tree cover
- 20.0%
- trees in this area
- 53.7K
- more trees needed
- 26.8K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Brisbane City QLD, Australia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 26, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Brisbane · AQI 11 (Good)
Brisbane's tree count comes to 53,658 trees across 10.73 km² of land, 10 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 26,829 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Brisbane today: AQI 11, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 12, 02:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · 99ElizabethSt, 3.4 km away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
2.0
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, cardboardpig, EJ on M
- 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 Brisbane's daily AQI at 48 on average, from 40 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 62 on Nov 5.
Where Brisbane stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Brisbane: Below target
20.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.73 km² of land.
Trees in this area
53,658
Target trees
80,487
More trees needed
26,829
CO₂ if planted / yr
590.2 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Brisbane lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Brisbane has lost about 178 hectares of forest (about 250 football pitches): 4.1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (92%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 178 haabout 250 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 4.1%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 163 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2007, when about 33 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2002 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2003 | 8 ha | 2 ha | 10 ha |
| 2004 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2005 | 9 ha | 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2006 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2007 | 32 ha | under 1 ha | 33 ha |
| 2008 | 17 ha | 2 ha | 19 ha |
| 2009 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2010 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2011 | 9 ha | 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2012 | 13 ha | 2 ha | 15 ha |
| 2013 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2014 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2015 | 10 ha | 2 ha | 11 ha |
| 2016 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2017 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2018 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2019 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2020 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2021 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2022 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2023 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Brisbane?
- Towns and roadscleared for good92% · 163 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown8% · 14 ha
Also: wildfires.
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
- 8,770 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 8,680 ha
- Overall change
- −90 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Brisbane stayed about the same size, at about 8,680 hectares: new forest grew on about 41 hectares, and about 130 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
In the same region
Measured cities near Brisbane
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Logan City20.7 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 35%
- Air quality
- 15
- Gold Coast71.2 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 28
- Toowoomba106.4 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 31%
- Air quality
- 33
- Newcastle619.0 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 130
- Central Coast681.7 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 75%
- Air quality
- 59
Also compared:Brisbane vs SydneyBrisbane vs MelbourneBrisbane vs CanberraBrisbane vs Perth
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Frequently asked
Questions about Brisbane
What is the air quality (AQI) in Brisbane right now?
The latest reading for Brisbane shows an AQI of 11 (Good), measured Nov 12, 02:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is 99ElizabethSt, 3.4 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Brisbane 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 Brisbane been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Brisbane's daily AQI at 48 on average, from 40 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 62 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 Brisbane lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Brisbane has lost about 178 hectares of forest (about 250 football pitches): 4.1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (92%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Brisbane stayed about the same size, at about 8,680 hectares: new forest grew on about 41 hectares, and about 130 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Brisbane?
Brisbane has an estimated 53,658 trees across the 10.73 km² of land measured — 20.0% tree cover, 10 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Brisbane need?
Brisbane needs roughly 26,829 more trees to close a 10-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 590.2 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Brisbane's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Brisbane City QLD, 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 Brisbane City QLD; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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