Istanbul air quality
Türkiye · Live AQI and hourly forecast for the next 5 days · updated Sun 03:00 local time
Good
Great air. A perfect time to be outside.
- Next 24 hours
- 29–35US AQI, highest around Sun 05:00
- Best time outside
- Mon 00:00–3:00US AQI about 30
- PM2.5 vs WHO guideline
- 0.3×5.2 µg/m³ over 24 h, guideline 15
- Cigarette equivalent
- ≈ 0.2 a dayBerkeley Earth rule of thumb
- European AQI
- Fairlevel 2 of 6
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Pollutants in Istanbul right now
| Pollutant | Now | Next 24 h vs WHO | US AQI band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine particles (PM2.5) | 4.8 µg/m³ | 0.3× | Good |
| Coarse particles (PM10) | 10 µg/m³ | 0.2× | Good |
| Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) | 5.5 µg/m³ | 0.3× | Good |
| Ozone (O3) | 74 µg/m³ | 0.7× | Good |
| Sulphur dioxide (SO2) | 1.3 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 176 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Desert dust | 0 µg/m³ | ||
| Smoke and haze (aerosol optical depth) | 0.22 | ||
| UV index | 0.0 |
“Next 24 h vs WHO” compares the forecast with the World Health Organization’s 2021 guideline levels: 24-hour means of 15 µg/m³ for PM2.5, 45 for PM10, 25 for NO2, 40 for SO2 and 4 mg/m³ for CO, and 100 µg/m³ over 8 hours for ozone. Above 1× is above the guideline.
Next 48 hours
Hourly US AQI. Highest 41 around Tue 02:00, lowest 29 around Mon 02:00.
5-day air quality forecast for Istanbul
Daily range of the hourly US AQI, from lowest to highest, on a scale of 0 to 150.
| Day | US AQI | At worst | PM2.5 avg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 27 Sept | 31–35 | 5.0 | ||
| Mon 28 Sept | 29–38 | 7.1 | ||
| Tue 29 Sept | 39–45 | 8.2 | ||
| Wed 30 Sept | 45–52 | 10 | ||
| Thu 1 Oct | 52–54 | 11 |
Common questions about the air in Istanbul
Is the air in Istanbul safe today?
Yes. Right now the US AQI in Istanbul is 34, which counts as good. Great air. A perfect time to be outside.
When is the best time to be outside in Istanbul?
Mon 00:00–3:00. That is the cleanest stretch in the next 24 hours, with the US AQI averaging about 30. The worst hour is around Sun 05:00, at 35.
What is the main pollutant in Istanbul?
Ozone (O3). It drives the index right now, at 74 µg/m³. Formed by sunlight acting on traffic and plant emissions. Highest on hot, still afternoons, often downwind of cities.
How does Istanbul's air compare with the WHO guideline?
Within the guideline. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 5.2 µg/m³, against the World Health Organization's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. The other pollutants stay within their guideline levels.
How many cigarettes is a day of Istanbul's air?
About 0.2 cigarettes. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 5.2 µg/m³. By Berkeley Earth's rule of thumb, 22 µg/m³ breathed for a day is roughly one cigarette.
Will air quality in Istanbul improve this week?
Today looks cleanest. Its AQI peaks at 35, against 54 on Thursday, the worst day in the forecast.
Measured near Istanbul
| Station | PM2.5 µg/m³ | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor | 3.4 | Sun 03:39 |
Air quality near Istanbul
About this forecast
Forecast from CAMS Europe and global via Open-Meteo: the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) model at about 40 km resolution (10 km inside Europe), refreshed twice a day. Models smooth out street-level peaks, so busy roads and industrial sites can be worse than shown; ground stations, where there are any nearby, show what monitors actually measure. The US AQI follows the US EPA scale and the European AQI the EEA bands. Readings for 41.01°N, 28.98°E, updated 2026-09-27 00:00 UTC.