City report · Finland
Oulu Air quality today
Air quality in Oulu currently reads AQI 19 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 19
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 3.4
- tree cover
- 37.5%
- trees in this area
- 102K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Oulu, Finland (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 11, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Oulu · AQI 19 (Good)
Oulu's tree count comes to 102,377 trees across 10.92 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Oulu today: AQI 19, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 17:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Nokela, 2 km away · median of 3 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
3.4
PM10
10.6
NO₂
32.4
O₃
19.6
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 Oulu's daily AQI at 11 on average, from 8 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 22 on Nov 10.
Where Oulu stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Oulu: Healthy tree cover
37.5% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.92 km² of land.
Trees in this area
102,377
Target trees
102,377
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Oulu lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Oulu has lost about 3,500 hectares of forest (about 4,900 football pitches): 25% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (64%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km east of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 3,500 haabout 4,900 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 25%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 2,230 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is slowing down: about 130 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 208 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2017, when about 371 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 | 88 ha | 52 ha | 140 ha |
| 2002 | 43 ha | 18 ha | 61 ha |
| 2003 | 48 ha | 16 ha | 64 ha |
| 2004 | 56 ha | 25 ha | 81 ha |
| 2005 | 99 ha | 31 ha | 130 ha |
| 2006 | 97 ha | 23 ha | 120 ha |
| 2007 | 68 ha | 20 ha | 88 ha |
| 2008 | 100 ha | 57 ha | 157 ha |
| 2009 | 137 ha | 50 ha | 187 ha |
| 2010 | 73 ha | 19 ha | 91 ha |
| 2011 | 107 ha | 70 ha | 177 ha |
| 2012 | 103 ha | 30 ha | 133 ha |
| 2013 | 64 ha | 22 ha | 87 ha |
| 2014 | 121 ha | 60 ha | 181 ha |
| 2015 | 87 ha | 24 ha | 110 ha |
| 2016 | 110 ha | 58 ha | 168 ha |
| 2017 | 188 ha | 183 ha | 371 ha |
| 2018 | 67 ha | 16 ha | 82 ha |
| 2019 | 121 ha | 125 ha | 246 ha |
| 2020 | 101 ha | 73 ha | 174 ha |
| 2021 | 72 ha | 24 ha | 96 ha |
| 2022 | 93 ha | 70 ha | 163 ha |
| 2023 | 94 ha | 64 ha | 158 ha |
| 2024 | 41 ha | 74 ha | 115 ha |
| 2025 | 55 ha | 62 ha | 117 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Oulu?
- Towns and roadscleared for good60% · 2,090 ha
- Loggingcan grow back36% · 1,260 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good3.5% · 123 ha
Also: farms, pasture and plantations, wildfires, 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
- 13,400 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 12,200 ha
- Overall change
- −1,160 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Oulu shrank from about 13,400 hectares to 12,200 hectares, a net loss of about 1,160 hectares (−8.7%). New forest grew on about 687 hectares, but 1,850 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 Oulu
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Umeå282.5 km
Sweden
- Tree cover
- 41%
- Air quality
- 11
- Jyväskylä308.4 km
Finland
- Tree cover
- 51%
- Air quality
- 14
- Lahti448.2 km
Finland
- Tree cover
- 51%
- Air quality
- 63
- Vantaa525.1 km
Finland
- Tree cover
- 39%
- Air quality
- 67
Also compared:Oulu vs HelsinkiOulu vs Turku
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Frequently asked
Questions about Oulu
What is the air quality (AQI) in Oulu right now?
The latest reading for Oulu shows an AQI of 19 (Good), measured Nov 11, 17:00 local time by 3 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Nokela, 2 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Oulu today?
At AQI 19 (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 Oulu been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Oulu's daily AQI at 11 on average, from 8 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 22 on Nov 10. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Oulu lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Oulu has lost about 3,500 hectares of forest (about 4,900 football pitches): 25% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (64%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Forest loss is slowing down: about 130 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 208 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Oulu shrank from about 13,400 hectares to 12,200 hectares, a net loss of about 1,160 hectares (−8.7%). New forest grew on about 687 hectares, but 1,850 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Oulu?
Oulu has an estimated 102,377 trees across the 10.92 km² of land measured — 37.5% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Oulu need?
Oulu has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Oulu's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Oulu, 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 Oulu; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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