City report · North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Köln Air quality today
Air quality in Köln currently reads AQI 50 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 50
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 9.0
- tree cover
- 27.1%
- trees in this area
- 77.8K
- more trees needed
- 8.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Cäcilien-Viertel, Innenstadt, Köln, Germany (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Aug 16, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Köln · AQI 50 (Good)
Köln's tree count comes to 77,815 trees across 11.49 km² of land, 3 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 8,327 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Köln today: AQI 50, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 16:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Köln Turiner Straße, 1.6 km away · median of 4 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
9.0
PM10
9.8
NO₂
33.8
O₃
3.2
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · EEA
- 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 Köln's daily AQI at 68 on average, from 43 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 94 on Nov 7.
Where Köln stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Köln: Below target
27.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 11.49 km² of land.
Trees in this area
77,815
Target trees
86,142
More trees needed
8,327
CO₂ if planted / yr
183.2 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Köln lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Köln has lost about 83 hectares of forest (about 120 football pitches): 1.2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (72%) 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
- 83 haabout 120 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 1.2%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 60 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2010, when about 7 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 | 4 ha | 2 ha | 6 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2003 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2006 | 4 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2007 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2008 | 4 ha | 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2009 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2010 | 5 ha | 2 ha | 7 ha |
| 2011 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 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 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2016 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2018 | 4 ha | 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2019 | 5 ha | 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2020 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2021 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2022 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2023 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2024 | 1 ha | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Köln?
- Towns and roadscleared for good72% · 60 ha
- Loggingcan grow back7.9% · 7 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown20% · 17 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
- 13,700 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 14,200 ha
- Overall change
- +425 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Köln grew from about 13,700 hectares to 14,200 hectares, a net gain of about 425 hectares (+3.1%). New forest grew on about 559 hectares, while 133 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 Köln
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Bergisch Gladbach14.1 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 60%
- Air quality
- 56
- Bonn24.4 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 40%
- Air quality
- 54
- Solingen28.3 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 53%
- Air quality
- 53
- Düsseldorf34.4 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 24%
- Air quality
- 55
- Wuppertal38.5 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 52%
- Air quality
- 42
- Mönchengladbach45.3 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 34%
- Air quality
- 51
Also compared:Köln vs BerlinKöln vs HamburgKöln vs MunichKöln vs Frankfurt am Main
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Frequently asked
Questions about Köln
What is the air quality (AQI) in Köln right now?
The latest reading for Köln shows an AQI of 50 (Good), measured Nov 11, 16:00 local time by 4 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Köln Turiner Straße, 1.6 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Köln today?
At AQI 50 (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 Köln been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Köln's daily AQI at 68 on average, from 43 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 94 on Nov 7. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Köln lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Köln has lost about 83 hectares of forest (about 120 football pitches): 1.2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (72%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Köln grew from about 13,700 hectares to 14,200 hectares, a net gain of about 425 hectares (+3.1%). New forest grew on about 559 hectares, while 133 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Köln?
Köln has an estimated 77,815 trees across the 11.49 km² of land measured — 27.1% tree cover, 3 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Köln need?
Köln needs roughly 8,327 more trees to close a 3-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 183.2 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Köln's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Cäcilien-Viertel, 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 Cäcilien-Viertel; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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