City report · Uruguay
Montevideo Air quality today
Air quality in Montevideo currently reads AQI 8 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 8
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 1.3
- tree cover
- 12.0%
- trees in this area
- 29.0K
- more trees needed
- 43.4K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Centro, Montevideo, Montevideo Department, Uruguay (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Mar 15, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Montevideo · AQI 8 (Good)
Montevideo's tree count comes to 28,953 trees across 9.65 km² of land, 18 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 43,429 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Montevideo today: AQI 8, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 04:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 205 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 205 km, e.g. Quilmes and Lanús
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
1.3
PM10
6.2
NO₂
3.6
O₃
42.0
SO₂
1.8
CO
124.0
- 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 Montevideo's daily AQI at 44 on average, from 33 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 65 on Nov 6.
Where Montevideo stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Montevideo: Critically low
12.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 9.65 km² of land.
Trees in this area
28,953
Target trees
72,382
More trees needed
43,429
CO₂ if planted / yr
955.4 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Montevideo lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Montevideo has lost about 35 hectares of forest (about 49 football pitches): 12% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 35 haabout 49 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 12%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 33 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2008, when about 8 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 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2008 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2009 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 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 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2018 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2019 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2025 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Montevideo?
- Towns and roadscleared for good80% · 28 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good12% · 4 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown7.1% · 3 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
- 189 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 223 ha
- Overall change
- +34 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Montevideo grew from about 189 hectares to 223 hectares, a net gain of about 34 hectares (+18%). New forest grew on about 64 hectares, while 30 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 Montevideo
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- La Plata161.1 km
Argentina
- Tree cover
- 24%
- Air quality
- 12
- Quilmes189.7 km
Argentina
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 9
- Lanús202.3 km
Argentina
- Tree cover
- 10%
- Air quality
- 9
- Buenos Aires202.6 km
Argentina
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 9
- Ezeiza213.2 km
Argentina
- Tree cover
- 26%
- Air quality
- 9
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Frequently asked
Questions about Montevideo
What is the air quality (AQI) in Montevideo right now?
The latest reading for Montevideo shows an AQI of 8 (Good), observed Nov 11, 04:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 205 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Montevideo today?
At AQI 8 (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 Montevideo been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Montevideo's daily AQI at 44 on average, from 33 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 65 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 Montevideo lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Montevideo has lost about 35 hectares of forest (about 49 football pitches): 12% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Montevideo grew from about 189 hectares to 223 hectares, a net gain of about 34 hectares (+18%). New forest grew on about 64 hectares, while 30 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Montevideo?
Montevideo has an estimated 28,953 trees across the 9.65 km² of land measured — 12.0% tree cover, 18 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Montevideo need?
Montevideo needs roughly 43,429 more trees to close a 18-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 955.4 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Montevideo's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality comes from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where one reports nearby, and otherwise, as here, from the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, which may differ from street-level monitors. 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 Centro; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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