Air quality in Guangzhou

Air quality index (AQI) and PM2.5 air pollution in Guangzhou

Last update at (local time)

1.5M people follow this city

  • The profile image of follower
  • The profile image of follower
  • The profile image of follower
  • The profile image of follower
  • The profile image of follower
IQAir map with AQI colorful pins

Weather

What is the current weather in Guangzhou?

Weather icon
WeatherBroken clouds
Temperature73.4°F
Humidity70%
Wind3.6 mp/h
Pressure29.9 Hg
Air pollution has cost an estimated4,400 deaths*in Guangzhou in 2024Find out more*Air pollution also cost approximately $2,100,000,000 USD in Guangzhou in 2024.

live aqi city ranking

Real-time China city ranking

#cityUS AQI
1 Qingnian, Shandong

305

2 Nangong, Hebei

245

3 Xingtai, Hebei

235

4 Shijiazhuang, Hebei

232

5 Luancheng, Hebei

214

6 Tianchang, Hebei

202

7 Handan, Hebei

188

8 Shahecheng, Hebei

188

9 Hengshui Shi, Hebei

176

10 Anshan, Liaoning

166

(local time)

SEE WORLD AQI RANKING

live Guangzhou aqi ranking

Real-time Guangzhou air quality ranking

#stationUS AQI
1 Guangzhou No.86 Secondary School

95

2 Panyu University Town

91

3 Guangzhou Environment Monitoring Central Station

88

4 Wuhu

86

5 Guangdong Business School

84

6 Guangdong Panyu Middle School

84

7 Li Fu Lu

82

8 City Wuzhong

80

9 Tiyu xi

80

10 US Consulate in Guangzhou

78

(local time)

SEE WORLD AQI RANKING

#1 Air Quality App

Free iOS and Android air quality app

AirVisual App, Free iOS and Android air quality app

US AQI

83

live AQI index
Moderate

Human face indicating AQI level

Overview

What is the current air quality in Guangzhou?

Air pollution levelAir quality indexMain pollutant
Moderate 83 US AQIPM2.5
PollutantsConcentration
PM2.5
27.5µg/m³
PM10
55µg/m³
O3
9µg/m³
NO2
62µg/m³trend
SO2
8µg/m³
CO
770µg/m³
!

PM2.5

x5.5

PM2.5 concentration in Guangzhou is currently 5.5 times the WHO annual air quality guideline value

Health Recommendations

What is the current air quality in Guangzhou?

A man cycling icon
Sensitive groups should reduce outdoor exercise
An open window icon
Close your windows to avoid dirty outdoor air
GET A MONITOR
An IQAir mask icon
Sensitive groups should wear a mask outdoors
GET A MASK
An IQAir purifier icon
Sensitive groups should run an air purifier
GET AN AIR PURIFIER

Forecast

Guangzhou air quality index (AQI) forecast

DayPollution levelWeatherTemperatureWind
Tuesday, Mar 26

Moderate 74 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
86° 73.4°
Wind rotating 3 degree 6.7 mp/h
Wednesday, Mar 27

Moderate 68 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
78.8° 73.4°
Wind rotating 163 degree 11.2 mp/h
Thursday, Mar 28

Moderate 87 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
84.2° 71.6°
Wind rotating 174 degree 8.9 mp/h
Today

Moderate 83 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon
86° 73.4°
Wind rotating 162 degree 13.4 mp/h
Saturday, Mar 30

Moderate 83 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon 70%
84.2° 75.2°
Wind rotating 155 degree 13.4 mp/h
Sunday, Mar 31

Moderate 74 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon 80%
84.2° 77°
Wind rotating 171 degree 8.9 mp/h
Monday, Apr 1

Moderate 62 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon 40%
87.8° 77°
Wind rotating 163 degree 17.9 mp/h
Tuesday, Apr 2

Moderate 60 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon 20%
87.8° 75.2°
Wind rotating 162 degree 17.9 mp/h
Wednesday, Apr 3

Moderate 79 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon 50%
84.2° 77°
Wind rotating 154 degree 13.4 mp/h
Thursday, Apr 4

Moderate 84 AQI US

Human face indicating AQI level
Weather icon 70%
84.2° 77°
Wind rotating 153 degree 15.7 mp/h

Interested in hourly forecast? Get the app

How to best protect from air pollution?

Reduce your air pollution exposure in Guangzhou

AIR QUALITY ANALYSIS AND STATISTICS FOR Guangzhou

What is the air quality index of Guangzhou?

Guangzhou is the capital city of Guangdong Province in Southern China. It is situated on the Pearl River about 120 kilometres northwest of Hong Kong. It is home to around 25 million people in its entire metropolitan area.

Towards the end of 2020, Guangzhou was suffering from poor air quality with a US AQI number of 149. This classification is based on recommended levels by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Concentration levels of the pollutants suspended in the air were as follows: - PM2.5 - 55 µg/m³, PM10 - 78 µg/m³, ozone (O3) - 104.5 µg/m³, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) - 35.5 µg/m³, sulphur dioxide (SO2) - 12 µg/m³ and carbon monoxide (CO) - 800 µg/m³. These figures are quoted as microns per cubic metre.

With air quality as poor as this, the advice is to close doors and windows to prevent the ingress of dirty air. Those people who are sensitive to poor quality air are advised to wear a mask when venturing outside. And outdoor exercise should be postponed until the air quality improves.

What is the main source of Guangzhou’s polluted air?

Guangzhou is a megacity with a large economic aggregate, a very large population density, and an equally large source of total pollutant emissions. With the rapid economic and social development, the rigidity of pollutant emissions has increased, all of which pose challenges for improving air quality. . Although the pressure is high and the task is not easy, Guangzhou tries to control and reduce air pollution from the source, optimise energy and industrial structure, and strengthen environmental supervision and other measures to carry out comprehensive control of air pollution in all directions, ensuring that levels of PM2.5 do not go higher than the suggested standard.

However, automobile exhaust is becoming the primary source of air pollution and can even exceed the level of industrial pollution. In 2007, the number of motor vehicles in Guangzhou reached 1.8 million, with an annual increase of 150,000 vehicles per year.

Is air pollution in Guangzhou getting better or worse?

According to figures released by the Swiss air monitoring company IQAir.com, the quality of air in Guangzhou is slightly improving. In 2019 the overall quality was “Moderate”. This was achieved from February through until September with figures between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³. For the remaining 4 months, the quality was classified as being “Unhealthy for sensitive groups” with figures between 35.5 and 55.4 µg/m³. In 2017 the mean annual figure was 33.9 µg/m³ and in 2018 there was a slight improvement with a figure of 33.2 µg/m³. The 2019 figure was 28.9 µg/m³.

What can be done to improve the air quality in Guangzhou?

According to recent data released by the Guangzhou Environmental Protection Bureau, the concentration of PM2.5 in Guangzhou in 2017 was 35 µg/m³, a decrease of 18 µg/m³ from 2013, reaching the national secondary standard, equivalent to a decrease of 34 per cent. In addition, the concentration of sulphur dioxide (SO2) in Guangzhou dropped from 20 µg/m³ in 2013 to 12 µg/m³ in 2017, a decrease of 40 per cent; the concentration of PM10 fell from 72 µg/m³ meter to 56 µg/m³ indicating that the ambient air quality was steadily improving.

Moving forward, Guangzhou will adhere to the "blueprint" and continue to improve the ambient air quality, from improving the fine management of dust pollution control, strengthening the control of mobile source pollution, deepening the remediation of industrial pollution, and further promoting the environmental relocation of polluting enterprises away from the city centre. Remediation work will be carried out in various ways, in order to achieve a PM2.5 concentration of 30 µg/m³ in Guangzhou, and the six main indicators of environmental air pollution will then fully meet the standards.

In recent years, Guangzhou’s air quality has continued to improve, but as PM2.5 continues to decrease, ozone (O3) has become the main factor affecting air quality, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by motor vehicles are one of the main precursors for ozone generation.

The next target is to be the emissions given off by diesel-powered trucks. Guangzhou currently has 1.55 million diesel trucks, accounting for about 5 per cent of the numbers of vehicles on the road, but the nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM2.5/PM10) emitted by them account for 67 per cent and 88 per cent of the total vehicle emissions, respectively.

What are the effects on health through breathing in Guangzhou’s polluted air?

In recent years, there has been more and more smog in Guangzhou, and the concentration of particles in the air has also increased. Residents living in this kind of situation are increasingly experiencing suffocation, coughing, dizziness, fatigue, nausea and increased bouts of asthma and other symptoms of respiratory diseases. The reason people tolerate such a harsh environment is simply that it is bothersome but not immediately fatal, so its seriousness is often overlooked.

Urban air pollution has greatly hindered the lives and health of the people, because polluted air, such as haze and smog, is essentially composed of countless black carbon (BC), dust and other particles suspended in the atmosphere over cities. The composition of the haze and smog is very complex as it contains hundreds of atmospheric particulate matter, among which are the airborne particles less than 10 microns in diameter which are particularly harmful to human health, such as mineral particulate matter, sea salt, sulphates and nitrates. These microscopic particles can easily enter the human respiratory tract and lodge in the bronchial tubes. Once in the alveoli, they can causes rhinitis, bronchitis and other diseases. Long-term exposure to this environment can also induce lung cancer.

In 2003 it was reported that as many as 300,000 people in China die from outdoor air pollution every year. Chinese people living in cities have become "vacuum cleaners" and each person has to filter out every 15 cubic meters of poisonous dust from the air every day.

Many people do not realise just how dangerous the air they breathe every day is, and most people living in big cities do not associate their abnormalities with air quality. Ironically, the public is both the victim and the producer of air pollution.

Cart
Your cart is empty

Connect With IQAir

Sign up for our newsletter