Addis Ababa
2 km around Gola Sefer
Air quality now
AQI 54
9.8%
tree cover
63.5K more trees would reach 30% tree cover
Africa · air quality report · 30 cities
Ethiopia air quality today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now the 30 cities Airleaf measures in Ethiopia average AQI 59 (moderate). The worst air is in Hosa’ina, at AQI 142, and the cleanest in Warder, at AQI 9.
10% of the 30 measured cities are over AQI 100 today, where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, and 37% have Good air.
Average right now
AQI 59
Moderate
US EPA index, across 30 cities
- cities measured
- 30
- worst air: Hosa’ina
- 142
- cleanest air: Warder
- 9
- average tree cover
- 22.2%
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Ethiopia · average AQI 59
Air quality right now in the 8 largest cities in Ethiopia
Moderate
Jijiga
2 km around Jijiga
Air quality now
AQI 78
2.5%
tree cover
86.4K more trees would reach 30% tree cover
Gonder
2 km around Gondar
Air quality now
AQI 49
19.9%
tree cover
31.7K more trees would reach 30% tree cover
Mek'ele
2 km around Mekele
Air quality now
AQI 60
17.5%
tree cover
39.3K more trees would reach 30% tree cover
Nazrēt
2 km around Adama
Air quality now
AQI 36
13.6%
tree cover
51.5K more trees would reach 30% tree cover
Warder
2 km around Warder
Air quality now
AQI 9
0.1%
tree cover
93.9K more trees would reach 30% tree cover
Awasa
2 km around Hawassa
Air quality now
AQI 70
26.6%
tree cover
7.0K more trees would reach 30% tree cover
Bahir Dar
2 km around Bahir Dar
Air quality now
AQI 52
32.5%
tree cover
Healthy tree cover
Across the country
How clean is the air across Ethiopia today?
10% of the 30 measured cities are over AQI 100 today, where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, and 37% have Good air. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
30 measured cities
- Good11 (37%)
- Moderate16 (53%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups3 (10%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
In aggregate
Ethiopia in numbers
Every figure below is read the same way over the same 2 km area per city, so they add up and compare like for like. Averaged across the 30 of 30 cities measured so far in Ethiopia.
- Average air quality
- AQI 59Mean of the latest reading per city
- Average tree cover
- 22.2%22 of 30 below their target
- Trees counted
- 2.0MAcross every measured area
- More trees needed
- 1.0MTo bring each area to its target
Worst air quality right now
Cleanest air right now
Greenest cities in Ethiopia
Least tree cover in Ethiopia
Excludes barren and desert sites
Against everywhere else
How does Ethiopia compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of Ethiopia average cleaner air than 39% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and more tree cover than 45%.
Cleaner air than…
- Ethiopia
- Beats 39%
More tree cover than…
- Ethiopia
- Beats 45%
See the most polluted and cleanest air rankings for every country.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Ethiopia lost?
Since 2001, Ethiopia has lost about 559,000 hectares of forest (about 5,600 km²): 4.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (87%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 559,000 haabout 5,600 km²
- Share of its forest
- 4.6%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 484,000 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 10,200 ha | 1,830 ha | 12,000 ha |
| 2002 | 11,500 ha | 1,620 ha | 13,100 ha |
| 2003 | 12,500 ha | 1,480 ha | 14,000 ha |
| 2004 | 11,800 ha | 1,660 ha | 13,500 ha |
| 2005 | 13,900 ha | 2,060 ha | 15,900 ha |
| 2006 | 10,900 ha | 1,260 ha | 12,100 ha |
| 2007 | 23,800 ha | 1,890 ha | 25,700 ha |
| 2008 | 22,200 ha | 1,910 ha | 24,100 ha |
| 2009 | 27,100 ha | 2,330 ha | 29,400 ha |
| 2010 | 18,000 ha | 2,310 ha | 20,300 ha |
| 2011 | 14,000 ha | 1,490 ha | 15,500 ha |
| 2012 | 38,600 ha | 3,230 ha | 41,800 ha |
| 2013 | 26,600 ha | 4,390 ha | 31,000 ha |
| 2014 | 27,600 ha | 5,260 ha | 32,900 ha |
| 2015 | 8,920 ha | 1,400 ha | 10,300 ha |
| 2016 | 16,800 ha | 2,890 ha | 19,700 ha |
| 2017 | 31,000 ha | 4,560 ha | 35,600 ha |
| 2018 | 16,000 ha | 2,970 ha | 19,000 ha |
| 2019 | 22,500 ha | 3,210 ha | 25,700 ha |
| 2020 | 15,300 ha | 2,770 ha | 18,100 ha |
| 2021 | 17,100 ha | 2,700 ha | 19,800 ha |
| 2022 | 17,300 ha | 2,780 ha | 20,000 ha |
| 2023 | 30,100 ha | 6,340 ha | 36,400 ha |
| 2024 | 22,400 ha | 5,640 ha | 28,100 ha |
| 2025 | 18,200 ha | 6,940 ha | 25,100 ha |
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 25,900 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 23,600 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2012, when about 41,800 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Ethiopia?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good85% · 473,000 ha
- Loggingcan grow back4.8% · 27,000 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back4.7% · 26,000 ha
Also: mining and energy, towns and roads, storms, floods and other natural causes, wildfires, unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
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. How it's measured
Ethiopia as a whole
23.8% of Ethiopia was forested as of 2024, against a 30% benchmark. Closing that gap nationally would take roughly 6.9B trees across 6.9M hectares. Source: World Bank (FAO).
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Clean-air buying guides
Cleaner air at home in Ethiopia
Picked by tested clean-air delivery rate (CADR), noise and running cost, from independent test labels. No brand pays to be listed.
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NIOSH-approved N95 masks and P100 respirators for smog and smoke, and how to get the fit right. Cloth and surgical masks do little against PM2.5.
Frequently asked
Air quality in Ethiopia: your questions answered
What is the air quality in Ethiopia today?
Right now the 30 cities Airleaf measures in Ethiopia average AQI 59 (moderate). The worst air is in Hosa’ina, at AQI 142, and the cleanest in Warder, at AQI 9. 10% of the 30 measured cities are over AQI 100 today, where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, and 37% have Good air.
Which city in Ethiopia has the worst air right now?
Hosa’ina, at AQI 142 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) on the US EPA index. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Which city in Ethiopia has the cleanest air right now?
Warder, at AQI 9 (Good). Both lists rank current readings, from ground stations wherever Ethiopia has at least three cities with one.
Is the air in Ethiopia safe to breathe today?
It depends on the city. 11 cities are Good, 16 cities are Moderate, 3 cities are Unhealthy for sensitive groups. At the national average of AQI 59: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
How much forest has Ethiopia lost since 2001?
About 559,000 ha from 2001 to 2025, 5% of the forest it had in 2000, from the University of Maryland's yearly satellite maps of forest loss. 484,000 ha of it was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which city in Ethiopia has the most trees?
Dīla, with 62.3% tree cover within 2 km of its center, measured from Sentinel-2 satellite images.
How does Airleaf measure air quality in Ethiopia?
Each city's reading is the US EPA air quality index, from ground monitoring stations where one has reported recently nearby, and from the CAMS atmospheric model elsewhere; each city's report says which. Tree cover is measured over the same 2 km radius in every city, so the cities compare like for like.
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