City report · Switzerland
Zürich Air quality today
Air quality in Zürich currently reads AQI 28 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 28
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 5.1
- tree cover
- 45.0%
- trees in this area
- 120K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Hochschulen, Zürich, Switzerland (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 19, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Zürich · AQI 28 (Good)
Zürich's tree count comes to 119,600 trees across 10.63 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Zürich today: AQI 28, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 17:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Zürich-Kaserne, 1.9 km away · median of 7 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
5.1
PM10
11.3
NO₂
34.9
O₃
10.1
SO₂
0.5
CO
230.6
Data: OpenAQ · EEA
- 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 Zürich's daily AQI at 61 on average, from 43 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 78 on Nov 8.
Where Zürich stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Zürich: Healthy tree cover
45.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.63 km² of land.
Trees in this area
119,600
Target trees
119,600
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Zürich lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Zürich has lost about 520 hectares of forest (about 730 football pitches): 5.2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 31 hectares (6%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 520 haabout 730 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 5.2%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 31 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2004, when about 67 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 | under 1 ha | 20 ha | 20 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | 5 ha | 5 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | 3 ha | 3 ha |
| 2004 | 3 ha | 64 ha | 67 ha |
| 2005 | 2 ha | 57 ha | 59 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | 19 ha | 20 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | 9 ha | 9 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | 8 ha | 8 ha |
| 2009 | 2 ha | 7 ha | 9 ha |
| 2010 | 2 ha | 8 ha | 10 ha |
| 2011 | 1 ha | 21 ha | 23 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | 8 ha | 8 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | 5 ha | 6 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | 3 ha | 4 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | 11 ha | 11 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | 12 ha | 13 ha |
| 2018 | 1 ha | 17 ha | 19 ha |
| 2019 | 1 ha | 21 ha | 22 ha |
| 2020 | 2 ha | 41 ha | 42 ha |
| 2021 | 4 ha | 61 ha | 65 ha |
| 2022 | 6 ha | 41 ha | 47 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | 10 ha | 11 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | 22 ha | 22 ha |
| 2025 | 1 ha | 15 ha | 16 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Zürich?
- Loggingcan grow back90% · 470 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good5.9% · 31 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown3.7% · 19 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
- 15,100 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 15,100 ha
- Overall change
- +20 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Zürich stayed about the same size, at about 15,100 hectares: new forest grew on about 228 hectares, and about 208 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 Zürich
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Vaduz77.5 km
Liechtenstein
- Tree cover
- 57%
- Air quality
- 70
- Freiburg87.3 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 53%
- Air quality
- 3
- Mulhouse101.2 km
France
- Tree cover
- 28%
- Air quality
- 39
Also compared:Zürich vs Geneva
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Frequently asked
Questions about Zürich
What is the air quality (AQI) in Zürich right now?
The latest reading for Zürich shows an AQI of 28 (Good), measured Nov 11, 17:00 local time by 7 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Zürich-Kaserne, 1.9 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Zürich today?
At AQI 28 (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 Zürich been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Zürich's daily AQI at 61 on average, from 43 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 78 on Nov 8. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Zürich lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Zürich has lost about 520 hectares of forest (about 730 football pitches): 5.2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 31 hectares (6%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Zürich stayed about the same size, at about 15,100 hectares: new forest grew on about 228 hectares, and about 208 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Zürich?
Zürich has an estimated 119,600 trees across the 10.63 km² of land measured — 45.0% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Zürich need?
Zürich has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Zürich's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Hochschulen, 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 Hochschulen; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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