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Air quality now: AQI36Good, Sibu

City report · Sarawak, Malaysia

Sibu Air quality today

Air quality in Sibu currently reads AQI 36 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

AQI 36

Air quality right now

Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5
PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
6.5
tree cover
49.2%
trees in this area
135K
more trees needed
0

Measured across a 2 km radius around Kampung Hilir, 96000 Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Aug 18, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.

Sibu · AQI 36 (Good)

Dark green marks tree cover detected inside the study radius.Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search, captured Aug 18, 2026

Sibu's tree count comes to 134,627 trees across 10.95 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.

Air quality detail

Air quality in Sibu today: AQI 36, Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 23:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.

Ground station · Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia, 2.3 km away

Health signal

Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

PM2.5

6.5

PM10

11.9

NO₂

—

O₃

—

SO₂

—

CO

—

Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Malaysia Department of Environment (DOE); Air Polluant Index Management System

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 Sibu's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 22 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 42 on Nov 6.

Last 7 days · model estimateavg 26 · peak 42
Nov 4: AQI 25 (peak 32)Nov 5: AQI 22 (peak 40)Nov 6: AQI 31 (peak 42)Nov 7: AQI 25 (peak 36)Nov 8: AQI 23 (peak 30)Nov 9: AQI 26 (peak 38)Nov 10: AQI 31 (peak 42)
Nov 4Nov 10

This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from Malaysia's API (IPU) · The full guide

Where Sibu stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest

Tree cover detail

Tree cover in Sibu: Healthy tree cover

49.2% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.95 km² of land.

Target reached

Trees in this area

134,627

Target trees

134,627

More trees needed

0

CO₂ if planted / yr

0 kg

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Sibu lost?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Sibu has lost about 5,500 hectares of forest (about 7,700 football pitches): 25% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.

Satellite image of the area around Sibu, May 2019

2019: satellite photo from May 2019 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.

Forest lost since 2001
5,500 haabout 7,700 football pitches
Share of its forest
25%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
5,100 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns

Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 190 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 243 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2009, when about 790 hectares of forest were lost.

Forest lost each year around Sibu, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year around Sibu, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.790

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year around Sibu, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
200146 ha14 ha60 ha
200271 ha2 ha73 ha
200389 ha11 ha100 ha
200472 ha4 ha76 ha
2005157 ha9 ha166 ha
2006181 ha4 ha185 ha
2007164 ha2 ha166 ha
200846 haunder 1 ha46 ha
2009781 ha9 ha790 ha
2010171 ha1 ha172 ha
2011101 haunder 1 ha101 ha
2012368 ha30 ha398 ha
2013279 ha6 ha285 ha
2014422 ha66 ha488 ha
2015225 ha3 ha228 ha
2016195 ha29 ha224 ha
2017200 ha1 ha201 ha
2018259 ha69 ha328 ha
2019207 ha39 ha246 ha
2020194 ha22 ha216 ha
2021170 ha12 ha182 ha
2022185 ha13 ha198 ha
2023120 ha3 ha123 ha
2024191 ha23 ha214 ha
2025203 ha30 ha233 ha

What is causing deforestation around Sibu?

  • Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good62% · 3,420 ha
  • Towns and roadscleared for good30% · 1,630 ha
  • Wildfirescan grow back2.9% · 157 ha

Also: shifting farming, logging, mining and energy, storms, floods and other natural causes, 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
21,600 ha
Forest in 2020
19,500 ha
Overall change
−2,100 haless forest than in 2000

Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sibu shrank from about 21,600 hectares to 19,500 hectares, a net loss of about 2,100 hectares (−9.7%). New forest grew on about 486 hectares, but 2,580 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 Sibu

Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.

  • Bintulu

    Malaysia

    166.0 km
    Tree cover
    44%
    Air quality
    40
  • Kuching

    Malaysia

    184.7 km
    Tree cover
    23%
    Air quality
    54
  • Miri

    Malaysia

    335.8 km
    Tree cover
    48%
    Air quality
    37
  • Singkawang

    Indonesia

    350.7 km
    Tree cover
    24%
    Air quality
    55
  • Kuala Belait

    Brunei

    369.2 km
    Tree cover
    38%
    Air quality
    28
  • Pontianak

    Indonesia

    379.4 km
    Tree cover
    0%
    Air quality
    93

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Sibu air quality (AQI) and tree cover — measured by Airleaf
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Frequently asked

Questions about Sibu

What is the air quality (AQI) in Sibu right now?

The latest reading for Sibu shows an AQI of 36 (Good), measured Nov 11, 23:00 local time by the Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia ground monitoring station, 2.3 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Is it safe to exercise outside in Sibu today?

At AQI 36 (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 Sibu been like this week?

Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Sibu's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 22 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 42 on Nov 6. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Is Sibu's AQI the same as Malaysia's API (IPU)?

No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Malaysia's Department of Environment (Jabatan Alam Sekitar) publishes its own Air Pollutant Index, the API or Indeks Pencemar Udara (IPU), every hour for each of its monitoring stations on APIMS (apims.doe.gov.my). Both scales call 0–50 good and 51–100 moderate; above that the IPU runs 101–200 unhealthy, 201–300 very unhealthy and over 300 hazardous. The two use different breakpoints and averaging times, so the numbers for the same hour often differ. For the official IPU reading, check the nearest station on APIMS.

How much forest has the area around Sibu lost since 2001?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Sibu has lost about 5,500 hectares of forest (about 7,700 football pitches): 25% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 190 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 243 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sibu shrank from about 21,600 hectares to 19,500 hectares, a net loss of about 2,100 hectares (−9.7%). New forest grew on about 486 hectares, but 2,580 hectares were lost.

What is the tree count in Sibu?

Sibu has an estimated 134,627 trees across the 10.95 km² of land measured — 49.2% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.

How many more trees does Sibu need?

Sibu has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.

How are Sibu's air quality and tree cover measured?

Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Kampung Hilir, 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 Kampung Hilir; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.

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