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Sydney air quality

New South Wales, Australia · Live AQI and hourly forecast for the next 5 days · updated Sun 09:00 local time

53

Moderate

US AQI, mostly PM2.5

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

Next 24 hours
49–55US AQI, highest around Mon 07:00
Best time outside
Sun 13:00–16:00US AQI about 49
PM2.5 vs WHO guideline
0.8×12 µg/m³ over 24 h, guideline 15
Cigarette equivalent
≈ 0.6 a dayBerkeley Earth rule of thumb
European AQI
Fairlevel 2 of 6

Loading the live globe…

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

Pollutants in Sydney right now

PollutantNowNext 24 h vs WHOUS AQI band
Fine particles (PM2.5) 6.7 µg/m³ 0.8× Good
Coarse particles (PM10) 10 µg/m³ 0.4× Good
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) 7.2 µg/m³ 0.2× Good
Ozone (O3) 52 µg/m³ 0.5× Good
Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 2.5 µg/m³ 0.0× Good
Carbon monoxide (CO) 76 µg/m³ 0.0× Good
Desert dust0 µg/m³
Smoke and haze (aerosol optical depth)0.15
UV index0.7

“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 59 around Tue 08:00, lowest 49 around Sun 13:00.

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

5-day air quality forecast for Sydney

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
Sun 27 Sept 49–56 Moderate 4:00 10 1.1
Mon 28 Sept 52–57 Moderate 12:00 12 3.4
Tue 29 Sept 55–63 Moderate 16:00 15 4.7
Wed 30 Sept 52–61 Moderate 0:00 11 7.3
Thu 1 Oct 52–55 Moderate 4:00 10 7.9

Common questions about the air in Sydney

  1. Is the air in Sydney safe today?

    For most people, yes. Right now the US AQI in Sydney is 53, 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 Sydney?

    Sun 13:00–16:00. That is the cleanest stretch in the next 24 hours, with the US AQI averaging about 49. The worst hour is around Mon 07:00, at 55.

  3. What is the main pollutant in Sydney?

    Fine particles (PM2.5). It drives the index right now, at 6.7 µg/m³. Tiny particles from combustion, fires and dust that reach deep into the lungs. The main driver of AQI worldwide.

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

    Within the guideline. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 12 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 Sydney's air?

    About 0.6 cigarettes. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 12 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 Sydney improve this week?

    Thursday looks cleanest. Its AQI peaks at 55, against 63 on Tuesday, the worst day in the forecast.

Measured near Sydney

StationDistancePM2.5 µg/m³Measured
Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor 2.3 km 0.2 Sun 09:49
Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor 3.5 km 0.2 Sun 09:48
Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor 3.8 km 0.6 Sun 09:47

Air quality near Sydney

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 33.87°S, 151.21°E, updated 2026-09-26 23:00 UTC.