SmogRank / South Africa / Western Cape / Cape Town

Cape Town, month by month

Cape Town has a measured daily mean on 157 days since 1 January 2023. Its worst month was September 2026, at 55 US AQI (11.5 µg/m³), 525th of 2,981 cities on that month's world ranking.

Every month since 2023

2026too few days for a mean (a year needs 200)58 days measured
JannoneFebnoneMarnoneAprnoneMaynoneJunnoneJulnoneAug20 daysSep55#525Oct8 days
2025too few days for a mean (a year needs 256)0 days measured
JannoneFebnoneMarnoneAprnoneMaynoneJunnoneJulnoneAugnoneSepnoneOctnoneNovnoneDecnone
2024too few days for a mean (a year needs 257)39 days measured
Jan19 daysFeb14 daysMar6 daysAprnoneMaynoneJunnoneJulnoneAugnoneSepnoneOctnoneNovnoneDecnone
2023too few days for a mean (a year needs 256)60 days measured
Jan5 daysFebnoneMar11 daysApr17 daysMay16 daysJun10 daysJulnoneAugnoneSep1 dayOctnoneNovnoneDecnone
Each square is a month's mean PM2.5 in US AQI from Cape Town's measured days, with its place on that month's world ranking under it. A month has a mean once 70% of its days are measured, the rule the monthly rankings use; under that, the square gives the days measured. Each square opens that month's ranking with Cape Town marked; each year, the year's.
Good0–50
Moderate51–100
Sensitive groups101–150
Unhealthy151–200
Very unhealthy201–300
Hazardous301+

The US EPA's Air Quality Index for PM2.5 (2024 breakpoints). Show values as: µg/m³ · US AQI · India AQI · China AQI · European AQI · UK DAQI · Canada AQHI+. About the scales

Months without a mean, and why

45 months
MonthWhy
Oct 20268 of 12 days measured; a month needs 9. The others: 2 with no readings from the monitors, 2 with readings for part of the day (a day needs 18 hours).
Aug 202620 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 11 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jul 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jun 2026No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
May 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Apr 2026No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Mar 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Feb 2026No day measured. The others: 28 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jan 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Dec 2025No day measured.
Nov 2025No day measured.
Oct 2025No day measured.
Sep 2025No day measured.
Aug 2025No day measured.
Jul 2025No day measured.
Jun 2025No day measured.
May 2025No day measured.
Apr 2025No day measured.
Mar 2025No day measured.
Feb 2025No day measured.
Jan 2025No day measured.
Dec 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Nov 2024No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Oct 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Sep 2024No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Aug 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jul 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jun 2024No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
May 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Apr 2024No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Mar 20246 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 25 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Feb 202414 of 29 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 1 missing from OpenAQ's archive, 14 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jan 202419 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 12 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Dec 2023No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Nov 2023No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Oct 2023No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Sep 20231 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 29 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Aug 2023No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jul 2023No day measured. The others: 1 missing from OpenAQ's archive, 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jun 202310 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 20 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
May 202316 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 15 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Apr 202317 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 3 missing from OpenAQ's archive, 10 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Mar 202311 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 20 missing from OpenAQ's archive.
Feb 2023No day measured. The others: 25 missing from OpenAQ's archive, 3 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jan 20235 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 7 missing from OpenAQ's archive, 19 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.

A day counts once 18 hours of it are measured; a month needs 70% of its days.

Cape Town's worst months

MonthUS AQIDays measuredWorld rank
September 2026 5511.5 µg/m³30 of 30525thof 2,981

Monthly means over the days measured; finished months only. World rank: its place on that month's world ranking of every city with enough days. Each month opens that ranking.

Cape Town's worst days

DayUS AQI
3 Jun 2023 12143.7 µg/m³
15 Aug 2026 8426.8 µg/m³
27 Aug 2026 7823.4 µg/m³
8 Sept 2026 7723.0 µg/m³
22 Sept 2026 7622.4 µg/m³
28 Aug 2026 7622.3 µg/m³
17 Apr 2023 7019.2 µg/m³
31 Jan 2024 7019.1 µg/m³
7 Sept 2026 6918.6 µg/m³
9 Sept 2026 6617.4 µg/m³

Daily means, the highest since 1 Jan 2023; the WHO's daily guideline is 15 µg/m³. Each date opens that day's world ranking, and each episode the bad-air spell it was part of.

Use this history

SmogRank, PM2.5 monthly and daily means, Cape Town, South Africa, 1 Jan 2023 – 8 Oct 2026. Monitor data from SAAQIS (South Africa's Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment) via OpenAQ; sources listed at smogrank.com/sources. smogrank.com/za/cape-town/history (accessed 12 Oct 2026).

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You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms. Raw monitor readings in bulk are published by OpenAQ, under each provider's licence.

Cape Town now: the last 24 hours, its ranks today and the last 12 months day by day.

Updated 2026-10-12 22:07 UTC. Values are PM2.5 (fine particles), the median of each city's monitors, as the US AQI PM2.5 sub-index. Some low-cost readings: Sensor.Community, ODbL (data and licence). Some readings: Uzhydromet (Uzbekistan's Hydrometeorological Service); Department of Environment, Nepal; Vietnam's government monitors; Aurassure; Umhverfisstofnun (Environment Agency of Iceland); RMCAB (Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente, Bogotá); Love My Air (City and County of Denver), no reuse terms published (why we use them).