City report · Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rio de Janeiro Air quality today
Air quality in Rio de Janeiro currently reads AQI 21 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 21
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 3.8
- tree cover
- 21.4%
- trees in this area
- 54.5K
- more trees needed
- 21.9K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Centro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 24, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Rio de Janeiro · AQI 21 (Good)
Rio de Janeiro's tree count comes to 54,456 trees across 10.18 km² of land, 9 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 21,884 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Rio de Janeiro today: AQI 21, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 13:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Centro, 400 m away · median of 7 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
3.8
PM10
13.2
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
927.9
Data: OpenAQ · Rio City Hall, Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro · MonitorAr-Rio
- 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 Rio de Janeiro's daily AQI at 77 on average, from 59 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 167 on Nov 4.
Where Rio de Janeiro stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Rio de Janeiro: Below target
21.4% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.18 km² of land.
Trees in this area
54,456
Target trees
76,340
More trees needed
21,884
CO₂ if planted / yr
481.4 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Rio de Janeiro lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Rio de Janeiro has lost about 45 hectares of forest (about 62 football pitches): 1.1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (60%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from May 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 45 haabout 62 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 1.1%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 27 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2017, when about 13 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2005 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 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 | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2013 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2015 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | 4 ha | 9 ha | 13 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2022 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 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 | 3 ha | 3 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Rio de Janeiro?
- Towns and roadscleared for good59% · 26 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back9.7% · 4 ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back5.8% · 3 ha
Also: farms, pasture and plantations, 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
- 4,440 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 4,560 ha
- Overall change
- +113 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Rio de Janeiro grew from about 4,440 hectares to 4,560 hectares, a net gain of about 113 hectares (+2.5%). New forest grew on about 135 hectares, while 21 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 Rio de Janeiro
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- São Gonçalo15.8 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 30%
- Air quality
- 21
- Duque de Caxias18.9 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 126
- Barra da Tijuca21.4 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 41%
- Air quality
- 13
- Magé31.7 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 62%
- Air quality
- 25
- Nova Iguaçu32.1 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 33%
- Air quality
- 77
- Maricá37.3 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 48%
- Air quality
- 14
Also compared:Rio de Janeiro vs BrasíliaRio de Janeiro vs São PauloRio de Janeiro vs Belo HorizonteRio de Janeiro vs Salvador
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Frequently asked
Questions about Rio de Janeiro
What is the air quality (AQI) in Rio de Janeiro right now?
The latest reading for Rio de Janeiro shows an AQI of 21 (Good), measured Nov 11, 13:00 local time by 7 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Centro, 400 m away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Rio de Janeiro today?
At AQI 21 (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 Rio de Janeiro been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Rio de Janeiro's daily AQI at 77 on average, from 59 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 167 on Nov 4. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Rio de Janeiro lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Rio de Janeiro has lost about 45 hectares of forest (about 62 football pitches): 1.1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (60%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Rio de Janeiro grew from about 4,440 hectares to 4,560 hectares, a net gain of about 113 hectares (+2.5%). New forest grew on about 135 hectares, while 21 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Rio de Janeiro?
Rio de Janeiro has an estimated 54,456 trees across the 10.18 km² of land measured — 21.4% tree cover, 9 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Rio de Janeiro need?
Rio de Janeiro needs roughly 21,884 more trees to close a 9-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 481.4 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Rio de Janeiro's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Centro, 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 Centro; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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