City report · Belgium
Gent Air quality today
Air quality in Gent currently reads AQI 65 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 65
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 16.4
- tree cover
- 20.8%
- trees in this area
- 65.0K
- more trees needed
- 28.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Arrondissement of Ghent, 9000 Ghent, Belgium (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Aug 12, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Gent · AQI 65 (Moderate)
Gent's tree count comes to 64,953 trees across 12.49 km² of land, 9 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 28,729 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Gent today: AQI 65, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 16:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · 40G100 - Sint-Kruiswinkel, 11.4 km away · median of 11 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
16.4
PM10
20.8
NO₂
24.0
O₃
6.5
SO₂
—
CO
—
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 Gent's daily AQI at 78 on average, from 64 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 102 on Nov 6.
Where Gent stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Gent: Below target
20.8% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.49 km² of land.
Trees in this area
64,953
Target trees
93,682
More trees needed
28,729
CO₂ if planted / yr
632.0 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Gent lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Gent has lost about 108 hectares of forest (about 150 football pitches): 2.5% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was logging (45%), after which forest can grow back. About 39 hectares (36%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 108 haabout 150 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 2.5%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 39 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2024, when about 12 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 | 3 ha | 4 ha |
| 2002 | 2 ha | 5 ha | 7 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2004 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2006 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2009 | 1 ha | 4 ha | 5 ha |
| 2010 | 1 ha | 3 ha | 4 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2012 | 3 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2015 | 2 ha | 3 ha | 5 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | 3 ha | 3 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2018 | 2 ha | 3 ha | 5 ha |
| 2019 | 2 ha | 7 ha | 9 ha |
| 2020 | 1 ha | 5 ha | 6 ha |
| 2021 | 3 ha | 5 ha | 8 ha |
| 2022 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2023 | 3 ha | 3 ha | 6 ha |
| 2024 | 4 ha | 8 ha | 12 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | 3 ha | 3 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Gent?
- Loggingcan grow back45% · 49 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good35% · 38 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good1.1% · 1 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
- 9,300 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 9,710 ha
- Overall change
- +408 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Gent grew from about 9,300 hectares to 9,710 hectares, a net gain of about 408 hectares (+4.4%). New forest grew on about 582 hectares, while 174 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 Gent
What is the air quality (AQI) in Gent right now?
The latest reading for Gent shows an AQI of 65 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 16:00 local time by 11 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is 40G100 - Sint-Kruiswinkel, 11.4 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Gent today?
At AQI 65 (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 Gent been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Gent's daily AQI at 78 on average, from 64 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 102 on Nov 6. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Gent lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Gent has lost about 108 hectares of forest (about 150 football pitches): 2.5% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was logging (45%), after which forest can grow back. About 39 hectares (36%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Gent grew from about 9,300 hectares to 9,710 hectares, a net gain of about 408 hectares (+4.4%). New forest grew on about 582 hectares, while 174 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Gent?
Gent has an estimated 64,953 trees across the 12.49 km² of land measured — 20.8% tree cover, 9 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Gent need?
Gent needs roughly 28,729 more trees to close a 9-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 632.0 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Gent's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Arrondissement of Ghent, 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 Arrondissement of Ghent; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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