Air quality in Croatia: where to check and what to do

Short answer. Croatia's national network has 21 monitoring stations, and results are published every hour on the national air quality portal ¹. The national portal colours stations with the European air quality index, which has six levels set by the European Environment Agency ⁷³. Above 180 µg/m³ of ozone in one hour, the town must inform the public; 240 µg/m³ is the alert threshold ².

Where can I check air quality right now?

The national network for continuous air quality monitoring currently has 21 stations, with five more planned in Zagreb, Split, Osijek and Omišalj on Krk ¹. Results from all stations in Croatia feed the database "Kvaliteta zraka u Republici Hrvatskoj" and are published every hour ¹. Towns and counties, and some polluters, also run their own stations ¹. The portal map covers the national and local networks; its real-time figures are not official laboratory data and can change after validation ⁷.

For all main pollutants on one map, with a 1 x 1 km modelled layer and 48-hour forecasts, use the European Air Quality Index; it has a mobile app ³.

What do the index levels mean?

Croatia's national portal uses the European (EU) air quality index; its legend runs from "dobro" (good) to "izuzetno loše" (extremely poor) ⁷. The index, as set out by the EEA, uses six levels: good, fair, moderate, poor, very poor and extremely poor, set by the worst of five pollutants ³. For fine particles (PM2.5, 24-hour mean), "good" is 0-5 µg/m³ and "poor" starts at 51 µg/m³ ³.

The index shows the short-term (hourly) situation, not the annual one ³. See Air quality index explained.

How polluted is the air on average?

The population-weighted median of Croatian cities shows about 12 µg/m³ of PM2.5 (annual mean 2021-2023) ⁴, more than twice the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³ ⁶. Nitrogen dioxide is about 8.1 µg/m³ ⁵, below the WHO guideline of 10 µg/m³ ⁶. That NO2 figure is a regional background over roughly 80 km: a busy street will be higher.

What should I do on a bad air day, or with smoke or dust?

Croatian law sets the thresholds and the advice ²:

• Ozone above 180 µg/m³ (1-hour mean): information threshold. Above 240 µg/m³: alert threshold. Alert thresholds for sulphur dioxide (500 µg/m³) and nitrogen dioxide (400 µg/m³) count when measured over three consecutive hours ².
• Who tells you: the local authority where the threshold is exceeded must inform the public free of charge through media, websites or other devices, several times a day, with the area, the expected trend, who is at risk and what to do ².
• Official advice during an exceedance: do not add to the pollution; avoid heating with fossil-fuel appliances, especially without a proper flue; cook on electric appliances rather than gas or solid-fuel stoves where possible; do not smoke indoors; postpone non-urgent work with solvents, glues, paints or insecticides; do not open windows or use mechanical ventilation that brings outside air in; small children, pregnant women, older people, the chronically ill and other sensitive people should stay off the street ². The town can also restrict or ban motor traffic in the affected area ².
• Smoke or dust: Phaenyx found no separate official Croatian guidance on wildfire smoke or dust. See Wildfire smoke, A clean-air room at home, Masks for smoke, Dust storms and Ozone days. How warnings reach you is on our Croatia alerts page.

A household plan can note who at home is sensitive to polluted air and where to stay on bad days.

Frequently asked questions

Does Croatia have its own air quality index?

The national portal shows the European air quality index for Croatian stations, in six levels from good to extremely poor ⁷³.

How many stations measure air in Croatia?

The national network has 21 stations; towns, counties and polluters run others ¹.

What ozone level triggers a warning in Croatia?

180 µg/m³ as a 1-hour mean is the information threshold; 240 µg/m³ is the alert threshold ².

Should I open the windows during a pollution alert?

No. The official advice is not to open windows or bring in outside air with mechanical ventilation ².

Sources

1. Vlada Republike Hrvatske (gov.hr) — Kvaliteta zraka — https://www.gov.hr/hr/kvaliteta-zraka/1350 (accessed 2026-10-27)
2. Vlada Republike Hrvatske / Narodne novine — Uredba o razinama onečišćujućih tvari u zraku (NN 77/2020) — https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2020_07_77_1465.html (accessed 2026-10-27)
3. European Environment Agency (EEA) — European Air Quality Index — https://airindex.eea.europa.eu/AQI/index.html (accessed 2026-10-27)
4. Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group (ACAG), Washington University in St. Louis — Surface PM2.5, V6.GL.02.04 (annual mean 2021-2023) — https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/datasets/surface-pm2-5/ (accessed 2026-10-27)
5. Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) — CAMS global reanalysis (EAC4) — https://ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/ (accessed 2026-10-27)
6. World Health Organization (WHO) — WHO global air quality guidelines (2021) — https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240034228 (accessed 2026-10-27)
7. Kvaliteta zraka u Republici Hrvatskoj (national air quality portal) — Kvaliteta zraka u Republici Hrvatskoj — https://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/ (accessed 2026-10-27)