City report · Benin
Cotonou Air quality today
Air quality in Cotonou currently reads AQI 75 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 75
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 23.3
- tree cover
- 4.3%
- trees in this area
- 13.5K
- more trees needed
- 80.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Todote, Cotonou, Benin (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 19, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Cotonou · AQI 75 (Moderate)
Cotonou's tree count comes to 13,509 trees across 12.57 km², 26 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 80,739 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Cotonou today: AQI 75, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 21:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 4 ground-station cities within 105 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 4 station cities within 105 km, e.g. Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria and Ota
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
23.3
PM10
14.5
NO₂
7.9
O₃
42.0
SO₂
0.9
CO
272.0
- 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 Cotonou's daily AQI at 50 on average, from 45 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 60 on Nov 10.
Where Cotonou stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Cotonou: Critically low
4.3% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
13,509
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
80,739
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,776 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Cotonou lost?
There was very little forest around Cotonou in 2000, about 11 hectares, and about 3 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Cotonou?
- Towns and roadscleared for good93% · 3 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown7.4% · under 1 ha
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
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. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Cotonou
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Irewe80.0 km
Nigeria
- Tree cover
- 75%
- Air quality
- 39
- Ota96.8 km
Nigeria
- Tree cover
- 3%
- Air quality
- 127
- Agege104.9 km
Nigeria
- Tree cover
- 1%
- Air quality
- 128
- Mushin105.0 km
Nigeria
- Tree cover
- 1%
- Air quality
- 125
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Frequently asked
Questions about Cotonou
What is the air quality (AQI) in Cotonou right now?
The latest reading for Cotonou shows an AQI of 75 (Moderate), observed Nov 10, 21:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 4 ground-station cities within 105 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Cotonou today?
At AQI 75 (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 Cotonou been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Cotonou's daily AQI at 50 on average, from 45 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 60 on Nov 10. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Cotonou lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Cotonou in 2000, about 11 hectares, and about 3 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
What is the tree count in Cotonou?
Cotonou has an estimated 13,509 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 4.3% tree cover, 26 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Cotonou need?
Cotonou needs roughly 80,739 more trees to close a 26-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,776 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Cotonou's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality comes from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where one reports nearby, and otherwise, as here, from the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, which may differ from street-level monitors. 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 Todote; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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