City report · Romania
Bucharest Air quality today
Air quality in Bucharest currently reads AQI 81 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 81
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 25.4
- tree cover
- 24.5%
- trees in this area
- 76.8K
- more trees needed
- 17.2K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Old Town, Bucharest, Romania (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 18, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Bucharest · AQI 81 (Moderate)
Bucharest's tree count comes to 76,815 trees across 12.54 km² of land, 5 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 17,244 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Bucharest today: AQI 81, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 17:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · B-16, 2.7 km away · median of 23 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
25.4
PM10
31.2
NO₂
23.0
O₃
40.4
SO₂
5.7
CO
407.7
Data: OpenAQ · EEA
- Outdoor exercise
- 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
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Bucharest's daily AQI at 77 on average, from 53 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 154 on Nov 9.
Where Bucharest stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Bucharest: Below target
24.5% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.54 km² of land.
Trees in this area
76,815
Target trees
94,059
More trees needed
17,244
CO₂ if planted / yr
379.4 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Bucharest lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Bucharest has lost about 19 hectares of forest (about 26 football pitches): 2.3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (66%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 19 haabout 26 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 2.3%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 12 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2008, when about 3 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | 1 ha | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Bucharest?
- Towns and roadscleared for good59% · 11 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good5.3% · 1 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown35% · 7 ha
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
- 3,150 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 3,590 ha
- Overall change
- +448 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Bucharest grew from about 3,150 hectares to 3,590 hectares, a net gain of about 448 hectares (+14%). New forest grew on about 461 hectares, while 13 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 Bucharest
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Ruse66.0 km
Bulgaria
- Tree cover
- 43%
- Air quality
- 65
- Buzău98.3 km
Romania
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 74
- Piteşti108.5 km
Romania
- Tree cover
- 32%
- Air quality
- 78
- Brăila174.3 km
Romania
- Tree cover
- 32%
- Air quality
- 87
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Frequently asked
Questions about Bucharest
What is the air quality (AQI) in Bucharest right now?
The latest reading for Bucharest shows an AQI of 81 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 17:00 local time by 23 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is B-16, 2.7 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Bucharest today?
At AQI 81 (Moderate): 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. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Bucharest been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Bucharest's daily AQI at 77 on average, from 53 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 154 on Nov 9. On 2 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Bucharest lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Bucharest has lost about 19 hectares of forest (about 26 football pitches): 2.3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (66%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Bucharest grew from about 3,150 hectares to 3,590 hectares, a net gain of about 448 hectares (+14%). New forest grew on about 461 hectares, while 13 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Bucharest?
Bucharest has an estimated 76,815 trees across the 12.54 km² of land measured — 24.5% tree cover, 5 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Bucharest need?
Bucharest needs roughly 17,244 more trees to close a 5-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 379.4 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Bucharest's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Old Town, 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 Old Town; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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