City report · Vatican
Vatican City Air quality today
Air quality in Vatican City currently reads AQI 24 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 24
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 4.3
- tree cover
- 28.6%
- trees in this area
- 88.3K
- more trees needed
- 4.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around 00120 Vatican City (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 16, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Vatican City · AQI 24 (Good)
Vatican City's tree count comes to 88,322 trees across 12.36 km² of land, 1 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 4,323 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Vatican City today: AQI 24, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 17:07 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · NASA GSFC Rutgers Calib. N11, 5.1 km away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
4.3
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Clarity, W
- 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 Vatican City's daily AQI at 57 on average, from 46 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 97 on Nov 9.
Where Vatican City stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Vatican City: Below target
28.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.36 km² of land.
Trees in this area
88,322
Target trees
92,645
More trees needed
4,323
CO₂ if planted / yr
95.1 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Vatican City lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Vatican City has lost about 69 hectares of forest (about 97 football pitches): 3.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (61%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 69 haabout 97 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 3.9%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 42 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2022, when about 11 hectares 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2004 | 7 ha | 3 ha | 10 ha |
| 2005 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2006 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2007 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2008 | 6 ha | 2 ha | 8 ha |
| 2009 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2012 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2013 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | 3 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2022 | 6 ha | 6 ha | 11 ha |
| 2023 | 2 ha | 3 ha | 4 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2025 | 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Vatican City?
- Towns and roadscleared for good56% · 39 ha
- Loggingcan grow back12% · 8 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back8.8% · 6 ha
Also: 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
- 5,250 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 5,460 ha
- Overall change
- +208 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Vatican City grew from about 5,250 hectares to 5,460 hectares, a net gain of about 208 hectares (+4%). New forest grew on about 246 hectares, while 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
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Frequently asked
Questions about Vatican City
What is the air quality (AQI) in Vatican City right now?
The latest reading for Vatican City shows an AQI of 24 (Good), measured Nov 11, 17:07 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is NASA GSFC Rutgers Calib. N11, 5.1 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Vatican City today?
At AQI 24 (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 Vatican City been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Vatican City's daily AQI at 57 on average, from 46 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 97 on Nov 9. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Vatican City lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Vatican City has lost about 69 hectares of forest (about 97 football pitches): 3.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (61%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Vatican City grew from about 5,250 hectares to 5,460 hectares, a net gain of about 208 hectares (+4%). New forest grew on about 246 hectares, while 37 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Vatican City?
Vatican City has an estimated 88,322 trees across the 12.36 km² of land measured — 28.6% tree cover, 1 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Vatican City need?
Vatican City needs roughly 4,323 more trees to close a 1-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 95.1 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Vatican City's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near 00120 Vatican City, 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 00120 Vatican City; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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