Air quality in December: cleanest & most polluted destinations

Where the air is cleanest — and worst — to travel in December, ranked by the monthly-mean US Air Quality Index (AQI) across 600+ destinations. Lower is better: 0–50 is good, 100+ starts to bite, 150+ is unhealthy. Tap any place for its full December weather and air-quality breakdown.

Worst air quality in December

  1. 1Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaHazardous691AQI
  2. 2Nouakchott, MauritaniaVery unhealthy278AQI
  3. 3Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoVery unhealthy242AQI
  4. 4Salalah, OmanVery unhealthy240AQI
  5. 5Beijing, ChinaUnhealthy183AQI
  6. 6Lahore, PakistanUnhealthy181AQI
  7. 7Amritsar, IndiaUnhealthy178AQI
  8. 8Chengdu, ChinaUnhealthy174AQI
  9. 9Agra, IndiaUnhealthy173AQI
  10. 10Delhi, IndiaUnhealthy171AQI
  11. 11Kuwait City, KuwaitUnhealthy167AQI
  12. 12Kolkata, IndiaUnhealthy166AQI
  13. 13Chongqing, ChinaUnhealthy166AQI
  14. 14Varanasi, IndiaUnhealthy165AQI
  15. 15Abuja, NigeriaUnhealthy160AQI

Cleanest air in December

  1. 1Honiara, Solomon IslandsGood14AQI
  2. 2Ushuaia, ArgentinaGood14AQI
  3. 3Farellones, ChileGood15AQI
  4. 4Nadi, FijiGood15AQI
  5. 5Puerto Natales, ChileGood15AQI
  6. 6El Calafate, ArgentinaGood16AQI
  7. 7Queenstown, New ZealandGood18AQI
  8. 8Wānaka, New ZealandGood19AQI
  9. 9Cochabamba, BoliviaGood20AQI
  10. 10La Fortuna, Costa RicaGood20AQI
  11. 11San Carlos de Bariloche, ArgentinaGood20AQI
  12. 12Bohol, PhilippinesGood21AQI
  13. 13Hobart, AustraliaGood21AQI
  14. 14Rotorua, New ZealandGood21AQI
  15. 15Suva, FijiGood21AQI