City report · Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sarajevo Air quality today
Air quality in Sarajevo currently reads AQI 119 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
AQI 119
Air quality right now
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 42.8
- tree cover
- 34.0%
- trees in this area
- 107K
- more trees needed
- 3.1K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Alipašin Most, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 7, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Sarajevo · AQI 119 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Sarajevo's tree count comes to 106,814 trees across 12.57 km², 1 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 3,142 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Sarajevo today: AQI 119, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 18:00 local time via OpenAQ and World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Sarajevo Otoka, Bosnia Herzegovina, 600 m away · median of 5 stations
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
42.8
PM10
54.5
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirNow, World Air Quality Index Project, Department of Public Health of the Sarajevo Canton, Federalni Hidrometeorološki Zavod, European Environment Agency
- Outdoor exercise
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise
- Windows
- Close them to keep the outside air out
- Mask
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one, especially in bedrooms
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Sarajevo's daily AQI at 120 on average, from 81 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 238 on Nov 7.
Where Sarajevo stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Sarajevo: Below target
34.0% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
106,814
Target trees
109,956
More trees needed
3,142
CO₂ if planted / yr
69.1 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Sarajevo lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Sarajevo has lost about 319 hectares of forest (about 450 football pitches): 2.3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (63%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km east of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 319 haabout 450 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 2.3%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 201 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2023, when about 44 hectares of forest were lost.
Sarajevo's full deforestation reportHectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | under 1 ha | 4 ha | 4 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | 6 ha | 8 ha | 13 ha |
| 2005 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2006 | 4 ha | 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2007 | 9 ha | 3 ha | 12 ha |
| 2008 | 21 ha | 8 ha | 28 ha |
| 2009 | 21 ha | 4 ha | 25 ha |
| 2010 | 7 ha | 12 ha | 19 ha |
| 2011 | 5 ha | 6 ha | 10 ha |
| 2012 | 7 ha | 10 ha | 17 ha |
| 2013 | 9 ha | 3 ha | 11 ha |
| 2014 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2015 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2016 | 17 ha | 3 ha | 20 ha |
| 2017 | 5 ha | 3 ha | 8 ha |
| 2018 | 10 ha | 8 ha | 18 ha |
| 2019 | 7 ha | 4 ha | 11 ha |
| 2020 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2021 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2022 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2023 | 14 ha | 29 ha | 44 ha |
| 2024 | 16 ha | 2 ha | 19 ha |
| 2025 | 10 ha | 6 ha | 16 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Sarajevo?
- Towns and roadscleared for good59% · 187 ha
- Loggingcan grow back28% · 90 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good4.4% · 14 ha
Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, wildfires, 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
- 15,900 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 15,900 ha
- Overall change
- +28 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sarajevo stayed about the same size, at about 15,900 hectares: new forest grew on about 304 hectares, and about 276 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
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Frequently asked
Questions about Sarajevo
What is the air quality (AQI) in Sarajevo right now?
The latest reading for Sarajevo shows an AQI of 119 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 11, 18:00 local time by 5 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Sarajevo Otoka, Bosnia Herzegovina, 600 m away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Sarajevo today?
At AQI 119 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise. Windows: close them to keep the outside air out. Masks: sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Sarajevo been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Sarajevo's daily AQI at 120 on average, from 81 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 238 on Nov 7. On 6 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Sarajevo lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Sarajevo has lost about 319 hectares of forest (about 450 football pitches): 2.3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (63%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sarajevo stayed about the same size, at about 15,900 hectares: new forest grew on about 304 hectares, and about 276 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Sarajevo?
Sarajevo has an estimated 106,814 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 34.0% tree cover, 1 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Sarajevo need?
Sarajevo needs roughly 3,142 more trees to close a 1-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 69.1 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Sarajevo's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Alipašin Most, 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 Alipašin Most; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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