City report · New South Wales, Australia
Wollongong Air quality today
Air quality in Wollongong currently reads AQI 12 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 12
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 1.9
- tree cover
- 26.0%
- trees in this area
- 62.0K
- more trees needed
- 9.5K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Wollongong NSW 2500, Australia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Mar 14, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Wollongong · AQI 12 (Good)
Wollongong's tree count comes to 61,996 trees across 9.54 km² of land, 4 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 9,538 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Wollongong today: AQI 12, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 12:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 205 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 205 km, e.g. Sydney and The Hill
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
1.9
PM10
17.4
NO₂
0.9
O₃
99.0
SO₂
3.7
CO
194.0
- 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 Wollongong's daily AQI at 35 on average, from 16 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 68 on Nov 7.
Where Wollongong stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Wollongong: Below target
26.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 9.54 km² of land.
Trees in this area
61,996
Target trees
71,534
More trees needed
9,538
CO₂ if planted / yr
209.8 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Wollongong lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Wollongong has lost about 125 hectares of forest (about 170 football pitches): 1.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (52%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2018: satellite photo from March 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 125 haabout 170 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 1.6%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 65 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2016, when about 16 hectares of forest were lost, mostly to wildfires.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2002 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2003 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2005 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2006 | 3 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2007 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2008 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2009 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2010 | 4 ha | 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2012 | 3 ha | 9 ha | 12 ha |
| 2013 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2014 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2015 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2016 | 2 ha | 14 ha | 16 ha |
| 2017 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | 10 ha | 11 ha |
| 2019 | 5 ha | 3 ha | 8 ha |
| 2020 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2021 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2022 | 1 ha | 3 ha | 5 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2024 | 5 ha | 2 ha | 8 ha |
| 2025 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Wollongong?
- Towns and roadscleared for good49% · 61 ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back27% · 33 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back14% · 17 ha
Also: mining and energy, 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
- 9,560 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 9,710 ha
- Overall change
- +156 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Wollongong stayed about the same size, at about 9,710 hectares: new forest grew on about 206 hectares, and about 50 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 Wollongong
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Sydney68.2 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 28%
- Air quality
- 31
- Central Coast119.0 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 75%
- Air quality
- 59
- Newcastle185.3 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 130
- Canberra187.3 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 42%
- Air quality
- 8
- Bendigo651.7 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 24%
- Air quality
- 7
- Melbourne652.3 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 20%
- Air quality
- 25
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Frequently asked
Questions about Wollongong
What is the air quality (AQI) in Wollongong right now?
The latest reading for Wollongong shows an AQI of 12 (Good), observed Nov 11, 12:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 205 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Wollongong today?
At AQI 12 (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 Wollongong been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Wollongong's daily AQI at 35 on average, from 16 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 68 on Nov 7. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Wollongong lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Wollongong has lost about 125 hectares of forest (about 170 football pitches): 1.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (52%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Wollongong stayed about the same size, at about 9,710 hectares: new forest grew on about 206 hectares, and about 50 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Wollongong?
Wollongong has an estimated 61,996 trees across the 9.54 km² of land measured — 26.0% tree cover, 4 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Wollongong need?
Wollongong needs roughly 9,538 more trees to close a 4-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 209.8 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Wollongong'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 Wollongong NSW 2500; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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