Air quality

Air quality in Peshawar today

Updated

Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (US AQI 139) People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Sun, Oct 25, 11:00 pm (18:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
139 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
PM2.5
73 µg/m³ 4.9× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
76 µg/m³
Ozone
3 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 139
Best hour tomorrow
5:00 pm AQI 115
European AQI
71

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Air quality in Peshawar right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan is 139, which falls in the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" band (up to 150). People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

The index is driven mainly by PM2.5, whose own sub-index is 139. 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 73 µg/m³, 4.9 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 76 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 3 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 56 µg/m³ (above the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 1903 µg/m³.

Peshawar AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 114 around Mon 11:00 pm to 139 around Sun 11:00 pm, staying "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" throughout.

The following day is expected to be cleaner, averaging about 110 against 124 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Asia/Karachi)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Sun 11:00 pm139Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups72.9763
Mon 2:00 am136Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups45.6489
Mon 5:00 am131Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups31.93413
Mon 8:00 am125Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups42.64411
Mon 11:00 am120Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups21.426117
Mon 2:00 pm118Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups1621142
Mon 5:00 pm115Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups31.93569
Mon 8:00 pm115Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups74.5780
Mon 11:00 pm114Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups67.8700
Tue 2:00 am113Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups41.4430
Tue 5:00 am112Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups27.9293
Tue 8:00 am110Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups37.43910
Tue 11:00 am109Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups16.51999
Tue 2:00 pm108Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups13.616137
Tue 5:00 pm108Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups30.93369
Tue 8:00 pm107Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups71750
Tue 11:00 pm106Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups63.6650

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 Peshawar tomorrow

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air tomorrow is forecast around 5:00 pm (AQI 115, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) and the worst around 6:00 am (AQI 129). That is a swing of 14 points, so a run or walk around 5:00 pm is noticeably better.

Peshawar vs the rest of Pakistan

Across 52 Pakistan cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 121 (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). Peshawar at 139 is 18 points worse than average.

It ranks 31 of 52 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Quetta (56) and the most polluted Chak Jhumra (158).

For context, the median across 3,909 cities worldwide is 57.

Air quality in cities near Peshawar

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Mardan48 km150Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups88.2
Mingora112 km62Moderate23.5
Jalālābād114 km80Moderate18.6
Islamabad139 km95Moderate53
Rawalpindi143 km95Moderate53
Bannu145 km97Moderate59.4
Abbottabad151 km87Moderate44.5
Battagram152 km58Moderate18.2

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Peshawar, 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.

Wildfire smoke

PM2.5 is forecast to reach 76 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 82 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 87 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 139, children, older adults, pregnant people and anyone with asthma, COPD or heart disease should limit time outdoors, especially strenuous activity. A well-fitted N95/FFP2 mask cuts particle exposure; it does not filter ozone.

What the US AQI numbers mean

US AQICategoryWhat it means
0-50GoodAir quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity.
51-100ModerateAcceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors.
101-150Unhealthy for Sensitive GroupsPeople with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.
151-200UnhealthyEveryone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed.
201-300Very UnhealthyHealth alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors.
301-500HazardousEmergency 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 Peshawar

Air quality elsewhere

Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), NASA FIRMS.