City report · Victoria, Australia
Melbourne Air quality today
Air quality in Melbourne currently reads AQI 17 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 17
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 3.1
- tree cover
- 20.2%
- trees in this area
- 60.7K
- more trees needed
- 29.5K
Measured across a 2 km radius around CBD, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Mar 10, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Melbourne · AQI 17 (Good)
Melbourne's tree count comes to 60,731 trees across 12.03 km² of land, 10 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 29,464 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Melbourne today: AQI 17, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 12, 02:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Melbourne CBD, 900 m away · median of 3 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
3.1
PM10
11.9
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Environment Protection Authority | EPA Victoria
- 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 Melbourne's daily AQI at 42 on average, from 26 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 61 on Nov 6.
Where Melbourne stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Melbourne: Below target
20.2% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.03 km² of land.
Trees in this area
60,731
Target trees
90,195
More trees needed
29,464
CO₂ if planted / yr
648.2 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Melbourne lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Melbourne has lost about 32 hectares of forest (about 45 football pitches): 4.4% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (66%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 32 haabout 45 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 4.4%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 21 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2003, when about 6 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 | 1 ha |
| 2003 | 5 ha | 2 ha | 6 ha |
| 2004 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2007 | 4 ha | 2 ha | 6 ha |
| 2008 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2009 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2010 | 3 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 Melbourne?
- Towns and roadscleared for good65% · 21 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown35% · 11 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
- 368 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 434 ha
- Overall change
- +66 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Melbourne grew from about 368 hectares to 434 hectares, a net gain of about 66 hectares (+18%). New forest grew on about 70 hectares, while 4 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 Melbourne
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Geelong64.5 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 17
- Ballarat101.8 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 25%
- Air quality
- 5
- Bendigo132.0 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 24%
- Air quality
- 7
- Hobart597.9 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 29%
- Air quality
- 7
- Wollongong652.3 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 26%
- Air quality
- 12
Also compared:Melbourne vs SydneyMelbourne vs BrisbaneMelbourne vs PerthMelbourne vs Adelaide
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Frequently asked
Questions about Melbourne
What is the air quality (AQI) in Melbourne right now?
The latest reading for Melbourne shows an AQI of 17 (Good), measured Nov 12, 02:00 local time by 3 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Melbourne CBD, 900 m away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Melbourne today?
At AQI 17 (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 Melbourne been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Melbourne's daily AQI at 42 on average, from 26 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 61 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 Melbourne lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Melbourne has lost about 32 hectares of forest (about 45 football pitches): 4.4% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (66%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Melbourne grew from about 368 hectares to 434 hectares, a net gain of about 66 hectares (+18%). New forest grew on about 70 hectares, while 4 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Melbourne?
Melbourne has an estimated 60,731 trees across the 12.03 km² of land measured — 20.2% tree cover, 10 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Melbourne need?
Melbourne needs roughly 29,464 more trees to close a 10-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 648.2 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Melbourne's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near CBD, 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 CBD; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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