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Quito air quality

Ecuador · Live AQI and hourly forecast for the next 5 days · updated Sat 18:00 local time

51

Moderate

US AQI, mostly O3

Acceptable. Unusually sensitive people should ease off long, intense outdoor effort.

Next 24 hours
26–51US AQI, highest around Sat 18:00
Best time outside
Sun 07:00–10:00US AQI about 26
PM2.5 vs WHO guideline
0.4×5.6 µg/m³ over 24 h, guideline 15
Cigarette equivalent
≈ 0.3 a dayBerkeley Earth rule of thumb
European AQI
Fairlevel 2 of 6

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The live globe, centred on Quito. Switch pollutants, drag through the next 5 days or press play. Full map →

Pollutants in Quito right now

PollutantNowNext 24 h vs WHOUS AQI band
Fine particles (PM2.5) 5.0 µg/m³ 0.4× Good
Coarse particles (PM10) 5.0 µg/m³ 0.1× Good
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) 10 µg/m³ 0.2× Good
Ozone (O3) 68 µg/m³ 0.8× Good
Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 8.9 µg/m³ 0.3× Good
Carbon monoxide (CO) 415 µg/m³ 0.1× Good
Desert dust0 µg/m³
Smoke and haze (aerosol optical depth)0.19
UV index0.0

“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 51 around Sat 18:00, lowest 26 around Sun 07:00.

Good 0–50Moderate 51–100Sensitive 101–150Unhealthy 151–200Very unhealthy 201–300Hazardous 301+

5-day air quality forecast for Quito

Daily range of the hourly US AQI, from lowest to highest, on a scale of 0 to 150.

DayUS AQIAt worstWorst hourPM2.5 avgUV max
Sat 26 Sept 41–58 Moderate 1:00 7.0 9.6
Sun 27 Sept 26–39 Good 0:00 5.7 10
Mon 28 Sept 32–44 Good 18:00 6.0 7.8
Tue 29 Sept 33–45 Good 21:00 8.2 8.8
Wed 30 Sept 46–53 Moderate 8:00 9.4 6.4

Common questions about the air in Quito

  1. Is the air in Quito safe today?

    For most people, yes. Right now the US AQI in Quito is 51, which counts as moderate. Acceptable. Unusually sensitive people should ease off long, intense outdoor effort.

  2. When is the best time to be outside in Quito?

    Sun 07:00–10:00. That is the cleanest stretch in the next 24 hours, with the US AQI averaging about 26. The worst hour is around Sat 18:00, at 51.

  3. What is the main pollutant in Quito?

    Ozone (O3). It drives the index right now, at 68 µg/m³. Formed by sunlight acting on traffic and plant emissions. Highest on hot, still afternoons, often downwind of cities.

  4. How does Quito's air compare with the WHO guideline?

    Within the guideline. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 5.6 µg/m³, against the World Health Organization's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. The other pollutants stay within their guideline levels.

  5. How many cigarettes is a day of Quito's air?

    About 0.3 cigarettes. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 5.6 µg/m³. By Berkeley Earth's rule of thumb, 22 µg/m³ breathed for a day is roughly one cigarette.

  6. Will air quality in Quito improve this week?

    Sunday looks cleanest. Its AQI peaks at 39, against 58 on Saturday, the worst day in the forecast.

Air quality near Quito

All 161 cities

About this forecast

Forecast from CAMS 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 0.18°S, 78.47°W, updated 2026-09-26 23:00 UTC.