Egypt · Cairo · 3 cities
Air quality in Cairo today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, New Cairo has the cleanest air of the 3 cities we track in Cairo (AQI 77, Moderate), and Cairo the worst (AQI 162, Unhealthy). Ḩalwān has the most tree cover, at 10.6% — #33 of 65 cities measured in Egypt.
Every city is measured the same way, over the same 2 km around its center: the air quality right now, from ground stations where there are any, and its tree cover.
Average right now
AQI 114
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- cities tracked
- 3
- average tree cover
- 5.7%
- Egypt: 12.7%
- worst air now: Cairo
- 162
- cleanest air now: New Cairo
- 77
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Cairo · average AQI 114
Air quality today across Cairo, city by city
| Cairo | 162Unhealthy | 1.3% | 122K | #57 of 65 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Cairo | 77Moderate | 5.3% | 77.6K | #45 of 65 |
| Ḩalwān | 102Unhealthy for sensitive groups | 10.6% | 68.1K | #33 of 65 |
Air quality is the US AQI from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where available, otherwise the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, refreshed hourly. Tree cover is measured within 2 km of each city center from Sentinel-2 imagery; the rank compares every city measured in Egypt.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Cairo lost?
There was very little forest in Cairo in 2000, about 18 hectares, and about 4 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | 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 | 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 |
The worst year was 2012, when about 2 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Cairo?
- Towns and roadscleared for good57% · 2 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown45% · 2 ha
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
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. How it's measured
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