City report · Lagos, Nigeria
Lagos Air quality today
Air quality in Lagos currently reads AQI 95 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Air quality right now
AQI 95
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 32.6
- tree cover
- 0.3%
- trees in this area
- 541
- more trees needed
- 53.6K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Jan 24, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Lagos · AQI 95 (Moderate)
Lagos's tree count comes to 541 trees across 7.22 km² of land, 30 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 53,557 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Lagos today: AQI 95, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 17:15 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · MARINA INTERCHANGE STATION, 900 m away · median of 9 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
32.6
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, HabitatMap, IQAir, LAMATA, Air Quality for Collective Public Health Action Project, HabitatMap · AirCasting, Uniport-UCAM Urban AQ
- 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 Lagos's daily AQI at 66 on average, from 60 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 93 on Nov 6.
Where Lagos stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Lagos: Critically low
0.3% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 7.22 km² of land.
Trees in this area
541
Target trees
54,098
More trees needed
53,557
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,178 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Lagos lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Lagos has lost about 31 hectares of forest (about 43 football pitches): 10% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2019: satellite photo from January 2019 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 31 haabout 43 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 10%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 29 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2004, when about 4 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2005 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2006 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2007 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2017 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2023 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 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 Lagos?
- Towns and roadscleared for good70% · 22 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good18% · 6 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good4.9% · 2 ha
Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, unknown causes.
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 Lagos
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Agege19.2 km
Nigeria
- Tree cover
- 1%
- Air quality
- 127
- Ebute Ikorodu19.3 km
Nigeria
- Tree cover
- 15%
- Air quality
- 83
- Irewe28.4 km
Nigeria
- Tree cover
- 75%
- Air quality
- 52
- Ota31.7 km
Nigeria
- Tree cover
- 3%
- Air quality
- 126
- Shagamu51.9 km
Nigeria
- Tree cover
- 20%
- Air quality
- 86
- Ijebu Ode70.6 km
Nigeria
- Tree cover
- 7%
- Air quality
- 68
Also compared:Lagos vs AbujaLagos vs KanoLagos vs IbadanLagos vs Port Harcourt
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Frequently asked
Questions about Lagos
What is the air quality (AQI) in Lagos right now?
The latest reading for Lagos shows an AQI of 95 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 17:15 local time by 9 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is MARINA INTERCHANGE STATION, 900 m away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Lagos today?
At AQI 95 (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 Lagos been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Lagos's daily AQI at 66 on average, from 60 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 93 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 Lagos lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Lagos has lost about 31 hectares of forest (about 43 football pitches): 10% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
What is the tree count in Lagos?
Lagos has an estimated 541 trees across the 7.22 km² of land measured — 0.3% tree cover, 30 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Lagos need?
Lagos needs roughly 53,557 more trees to close a 30-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,178 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Lagos's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Lagos Island, 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 Lagos Island; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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