City report · Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia
Riyadh Air quality today
Air quality in Riyadh currently reads AQI 72 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Air quality right now
AQI 72
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 20.4
- tree cover
- 2.2%
- trees in this area
- 6.9K
- more trees needed
- 87.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Ad Dhubbat, Riyadh Saudi Arabia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 16, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Riyadh · AQI 72 (Moderate)
Riyadh's tree count comes to 6,912 trees across 12.57 km², 28 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 87,336 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Riyadh today: AQI 72, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 19:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Riyadh, 20.1 km away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
20.4
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, luckylux
- Outdoor exercise
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier
- Windows
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Riyadh's daily AQI at 569 on average, from 324 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 1064 on Nov 10.
Where Riyadh stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Riyadh: Critically low
2.2% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
6,912
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
87,336
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,921 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Riyadh lost?
There was almost no forest around Riyadh in 2000, so there has been almost nothing to lose since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
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. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Riyadh
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Al Kharj85.7 km
Saudi Arabia
- Tree cover
- 0%
- Air quality
- 255
- Az Zulfī262.2 km
Saudi Arabia
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 123
- Al Hufūf298.4 km
Saudi Arabia
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 161
- Unaizah315.3 km
Saudi Arabia
- Tree cover
- 1%
- Air quality
- 60
- Buraydah330.4 km
Saudi Arabia
- Tree cover
- 3%
- Air quality
- 53
- Al Jubayl389.0 km
Saudi Arabia
- Tree cover
- 1%
- Air quality
- 142
Also compared:Riyadh vs JeddahRiyadh vs MakkahRiyadh vs MadinahRiyadh vs Dammam
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Frequently asked
Questions about Riyadh
What is the air quality (AQI) in Riyadh right now?
The latest reading for Riyadh shows an AQI of 72 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 19:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Riyadh, 20.1 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Riyadh today?
At AQI 72 (Moderate): fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier. Windows: fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution. Masks: not needed for most people. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Riyadh been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Riyadh's daily AQI at 569 on average, from 324 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 1064 on Nov 10. On 7 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Riyadh lost since 2001?
There was almost no forest around Riyadh in 2000, so there has been almost nothing to lose since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
What is the tree count in Riyadh?
Riyadh has an estimated 6,912 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 2.2% tree cover, 28 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Riyadh need?
Riyadh needs roughly 87,336 more trees to close a 28-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,921 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Riyadh's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Ad Dhubbat, 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 Ad Dhubbat; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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