London’s eight million trees are worth £6.1 billion to the capital’s economy.
They also contribute £130 million in wider benefits, according to a survey launched by the Mayor of London and The Forestry Commission.
The ‘iTree urban forest survey’ used more than 300 volunteers to count trees and analyse the services they provide from the carbon they store, the pollution they remove and rainwater they hold.
They found 2.3 million tonnes of carbon are stored every year and pollution worth more than 2,200 tonnes are removed annually.
Trees play a “huge” role in improving air quality and remove 299 tonnes of Particulate Matter and 698 tonnes of Nitrogen Dioxide pollution across London annually, the survey added.
The Mayor of London plans to deliver 40,000 new trees across London and has already supported the planting of nearly half a million trees.
Boris Johnson said: “London is one of the greenest, leafiest cities on the planet and as this survey proves, our canopy does a ‘tree-mendous’ job of lowering pollution, alleviating flood water and boosting our environment.”