City report · Bhutan
Thimphu Air quality today
Air quality in Thimphu currently reads AQI 4 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 4
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 0.6
- tree cover
- 48.1%
- trees in this area
- 151K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Chang Zamtok, ཐིམ་ཕུུུུ, Bhutan (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 25, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Thimphu · AQI 4 (Good)
Thimphu's tree count comes to 151,111 trees across 12.57 km², already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Thimphu today: AQI 4, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 02:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 85 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 85 km, e.g. Phuentsholing and Jalpaiguri Division
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
0.6
PM10
1.1
NO₂
3.1
O₃
73.0
SO₂
0.5
CO
212.0
- 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 Thimphu's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 10 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 68 on Nov 6.
Where Thimphu stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Thimphu: Healthy tree cover
48.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
151,111
Target trees
151,111
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Thimphu lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Thimphu has lost about 398 hectares of forest (about 560 football pitches): 1.8% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was wildfires (38%), after which forest can grow back. About 165 hectares (41%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km southwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 398 haabout 560 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 1.8%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 165 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2010, when about 60 hectares of forest were lost, mostly to wildfires.
Thimphu'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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | 4 ha | 5 ha | 9 ha |
| 2004 | 6 ha | 2 ha | 8 ha |
| 2005 | 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2006 | 10 ha | 3 ha | 13 ha |
| 2007 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2008 | 10 ha | 5 ha | 14 ha |
| 2009 | 8 ha | 2 ha | 10 ha |
| 2010 | 18 ha | 42 ha | 60 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | 3 ha | 4 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | 4 ha | 4 ha |
| 2013 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2014 | 3 ha | 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2015 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2016 | 9 ha | 36 ha | 45 ha |
| 2017 | 5 ha | 12 ha | 17 ha |
| 2018 | 16 ha | 5 ha | 20 ha |
| 2019 | 9 ha | 32 ha | 41 ha |
| 2020 | 4 ha | 5 ha | 8 ha |
| 2021 | 10 ha | 3 ha | 13 ha |
| 2022 | 14 ha | 3 ha | 17 ha |
| 2023 | 10 ha | 26 ha | 37 ha |
| 2024 | 12 ha | 15 ha | 27 ha |
| 2025 | 8 ha | 27 ha | 35 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Thimphu?
- Wildfirescan grow back38% · 152 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good36% · 142 ha
- Loggingcan grow back8.3% · 33 ha
Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, mining and energy, 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
- 24,800 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 24,800 ha
- Overall change
- +55 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Thimphu stayed about the same size, at about 24,800 hectares: new forest grew on about 355 hectares, and about 300 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 Thimphu
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Jaigaon73.6 km
India
- Tree cover
- 34%
- Air quality
- 78
- Gangtok102.8 km
India
- Tree cover
- 83%
- Air quality
- 39
- Jalpāiguri138.7 km
India
- Tree cover
- 40%
- Air quality
- 105
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Frequently asked
Questions about Thimphu
What is the air quality (AQI) in Thimphu right now?
The latest reading for Thimphu shows an AQI of 4 (Good), observed Nov 11, 02:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 85 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Thimphu today?
At AQI 4 (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 Thimphu been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Thimphu's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 10 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 68 on Nov 6. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Thimphu lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Thimphu has lost about 398 hectares of forest (about 560 football pitches): 1.8% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was wildfires (38%), after which forest can grow back. About 165 hectares (41%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Thimphu stayed about the same size, at about 24,800 hectares: new forest grew on about 355 hectares, and about 300 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Thimphu?
Thimphu has an estimated 151,111 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 48.1% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Thimphu need?
Thimphu has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Thimphu's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality comes from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where one reports nearby, and otherwise, as here, from the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, which may differ from street-level monitors. 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 Chang Zamtok; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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