Air quality
Air quality in Almaty today
Updated
Moderate (US AQI 86) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 12:34 am (19:34 UTC).
Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Almaty, Kazakhstan, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.
- US AQI now
- 86 Moderate
- PM2.5
- 52 µg/m³ 3.5× WHO 24-h guideline
- PM10
- 60 µg/m³
- Ozone
- 29 µg/m³
Air quality in Almaty right now
Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Almaty, Kazakhstan is 86, which falls in the "Moderate" band (up to 100). Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors.
PM2.5 is 52 µg/m³, 3.5 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 60 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 29 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 36 µg/m³ (above the 24-hour guideline of 25).
Almaty vs the rest of Kazakhstan
Across 12 Kazakhstan cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 40 (Good). Almaty at 86 is 46 points worse than average.
It ranks 12 of 12 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Oral (23) and the most polluted Almaty (86).
For context, the median across 3,909 cities worldwide is 56.
Air quality in cities near Almaty
| City | Distance | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishkek | 193 km | 61 | Moderate | 20.5 |
| Huocheng | 331 km | 86 | Moderate | 32.4 |
| Aqsu | 360 km | 109 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 25.6 |
| Ghulja | 363 km | 44 | Good | 7.1 |
| Artux | 399 km | 256 | Very Unhealthy | 97.6 |
Model vs measured
The nearest measured PM2.5 reading is 16 µg/m³ from Sensor.Community (median of 4 sensors), centred about 3 km from the city centre. That is 35.4 µg/m³ below the model estimate of 52 µg/m³. Low-cost sensors can read high in humid air; reference monitors are more accurate but sparser.
Wildfire smoke
PM2.5 is forecast to reach 52 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 49 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 15 km away). Smoke is a likely contributor: keep windows closed, run an air purifier or HVAC filter, and check the fire map before heading out.
Advice for sensitive groups
At 86, most people are fine outdoors. If you are unusually sensitive to air pollution, keep long or intense workouts to the cleaner hours shown above.
What the US AQI numbers mean
| US AQI | Category | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0-50 | Good | Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. |
| 51-100 | Moderate | Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 101-150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 151-200 | Unhealthy | Everyone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed. |
| 201-300 | Very Unhealthy | Health alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors. |
| 301-500 | Hazardous | Emergency conditions: everyone should avoid all outdoor physical activity and stay indoors with filtered air if possible. The scale tops out at 500; heavier dust or smoke is shown as 500. |
Values on this page are modelled by CAMS (Copernicus) and served by Open-Meteo; they are estimates for the area around the city centre, not readings from an official monitor.
Nearby cities
More for Almaty
Air quality elsewhere
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), Sensor.Community, NASA FIRMS.