City report · Gauteng, South Africa
Soweto Air quality today
Air quality in Soweto currently reads AQI 37 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 37
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 6.6
- tree cover
- 5.9%
- trees in this area
- 18.5K
- more trees needed
- 75.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Phiri, Soweto, 1818, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Soweto · AQI 37 (Good)
Soweto's tree count comes to 18,535 trees across 12.57 km², 24 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 75,712 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Soweto today: AQI 37, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 18:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Little John Park , 21.6 km away
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
6.6
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Shift iT
- 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 Soweto's daily AQI at 72 on average, from 54 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 160 on Nov 5.
Where Soweto stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Soweto: Critically low
5.9% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
18,535
Target trees
94,247
More trees needed
75,712
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,666 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Soweto lost?
There was very little forest around Soweto in 2000, about 37 hectares, and about 2 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.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
The worst year was 2012, when about 1 hectare 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 | 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 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 |
What is causing deforestation around Soweto?
- Towns and roadscleared for good88% · 2 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good4.2% · under 1 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown8.3% · under 1 ha
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
- 132 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 110 ha
- Overall change
- −22 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Soweto shrank from about 132 hectares to 110 hectares, a net loss of about 22 hectares (−17%). New forest grew on about 14 hectares, but 37 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 Soweto
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Randfontein18.2 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 14%
- Air quality
- 47
- Johannesburg19.8 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 44
- Westonaria21.7 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 9%
- Air quality
- 38
- Krugersdorp21.9 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 26%
- Air quality
- 37
- Randburg24.0 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 37%
- Air quality
- 44
- Tokoza28.8 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 7%
- Air quality
- 78
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Frequently asked
Questions about Soweto
What is the air quality (AQI) in Soweto right now?
The latest reading for Soweto shows an AQI of 37 (Good), measured Nov 11, 18:00 local time by the Little John Park ground monitoring station, 21.6 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Soweto today?
At AQI 37 (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 Soweto been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Soweto's daily AQI at 72 on average, from 54 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 160 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Soweto lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Soweto in 2000, about 37 hectares, and about 2 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. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Soweto shrank from about 132 hectares to 110 hectares, a net loss of about 22 hectares (−17%). New forest grew on about 14 hectares, but 37 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Soweto?
Soweto has an estimated 18,535 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 5.9% tree cover, 24 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Soweto need?
Soweto needs roughly 75,712 more trees to close a 24-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,666 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Soweto's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Phiri, 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 Phiri; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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