Air quality
Air quality in Cape Town today
Updated
Moderate (US AQI 52) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Sun, Oct 25, 8:00 pm (18:00 UTC).
Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.
- US AQI now
- 52 Moderate
- PM2.5
- 8.8 µg/m³ 0.6× WHO 24-h guideline
- PM10
- 13 µg/m³
- Ozone
- 53 µg/m³
- Dominant pollutant
- PM2.5 sub-index 52
- Best hour tomorrow
- 6:00 am AQI 50
- European AQI
- 28
Air quality in Cape Town right now
Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa is 52, which falls in the "Moderate" band (up to 100). Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors.
The index is driven mainly by PM2.5, whose own sub-index is 52. Fine and coarse particles come from traffic, heating, industry, dust and smoke; they build up on calm nights and clear when wind or rain arrives.
PM2.5 is 8.8 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 13 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 53 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 4.8 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).
Also this hour: carbon monoxide 112 µg/m³.
NASA FIRMS shows 9 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 114 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.
Cape Town AQI forecast: next 48 hours
Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 50 around Mon 6:00 am to 52 around Sun 8:00 pm, from "Good" at best to "Moderate" at worst.
The following day looks similar, averaging about 53.
| Local time (Africa/Johannesburg) | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 8:00 pm | 52 | Moderate | 8.8 | 13 | 53 |
| Sun 11:00 pm | 52 | Moderate | 7.7 | 11 | 51 |
| Mon 2:00 am | 51 | Moderate | 6.7 | 10 | 50 |
| Mon 5:00 am | 51 | Moderate | 7.3 | 11 | 52 |
| Mon 8:00 am | 51 | Moderate | 11.5 | 17 | 44 |
| Mon 11:00 am | 51 | Moderate | 12.6 | 19 | 58 |
| Mon 2:00 pm | 51 | Moderate | 12.7 | 19 | 63 |
| Mon 5:00 pm | 51 | Moderate | 11.7 | 17 | 53 |
| Mon 8:00 pm | 52 | Moderate | 12.7 | 18 | 39 |
| Mon 11:00 pm | 53 | Moderate | 11.1 | 16 | 42 |
| Tue 2:00 am | 53 | Moderate | 7.8 | 12 | 45 |
| Tue 5:00 am | 54 | Moderate | 7.2 | 11 | 42 |
| Tue 8:00 am | 53 | Moderate | 10.1 | 13 | 45 |
| Tue 11:00 am | 53 | Moderate | 13 | 17 | 67 |
| Tue 2:00 pm | 53 | Moderate | 12.3 | 17 | 73 |
| Tue 5:00 pm | 53 | Moderate | 11.7 | 16 | 65 |
| Tue 8:00 pm | 53 | Moderate | 11.9 | 17 | 51 |
Every third hour of the CAMS forecast via Open-Meteo. US AQI uses rolling averages (24 h for particles, 8 h for ozone), so it moves more slowly than the hourly concentrations.
Best time to be outside in Cape Town tomorrow
Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air tomorrow is forecast around 6:00 am (AQI 50, Good) and the worst around 7:00 pm (AQI 52). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.
Cape Town vs the rest of South Africa
Across 50 South Africa cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 66 (Moderate). Cape Town at 52 is 14 points cleaner than average.
It ranks 15 of 50 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Paarl (32) and the most polluted Tokoza (99).
For context, the median across 3,909 cities worldwide is 57.
Air quality in cities near Cape Town
| City | Distance | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paarl | 55 km | 32 | Good | 6.1 |
| Wellington, Western Cape | 63 km | 32 | Good | 6.1 |
| Worcester, Western Cape | 100 km | 35 | Good | 6 |
| George | 373 km | 43 | Good | 8.5 |
Model vs measured
We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Cape Town, so the numbers on this page are model estimates. Models capture regional pollution well but can miss very local sources such as a busy road or a nearby fire.
Advice for sensitive groups
At 52, most people are fine outdoors. If you are unusually sensitive to PM2.5, 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 Cape Town
Air quality elsewhere
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), NASA FIRMS.