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London ranked as Europe’s most congested city
14 January 2025
by Christopher Carey
Drivers in London spent an average 101 hours sitting in traffic last year – a two percent increase on 2023 – according to a new report from transport analytics firm Inrix.
The UK capital has seen a consistent increase in congestion times in recent years, rising from 97 hours spent in traffic in 2022 to 99 hours in 2023.
Paris was ranked as the second most congested city in Europe with 97 hours of delays, followed by Dublin in third place with 81 hours.
“While the UK did see a slight increase in congestion again this year, overall congestion has remained steady,” said Bob Pishue, Inrix transportation analyst and author of the report.
“Roadworks in key corridors such as M25 Wisely Interchange caused considerable traffic on a main artery into the capital.
“Interestingly it was cities outside of the capital that saw the greatest increase in congestion with Manchester seeing a large increase, up 13 percent.”
Inrix estimates that the true cost of congestion to London could be around £3.85 billion (US$4.75 billion) – equivalent to £942 for each of the city’s four million drivers.
Global trends
The 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard identified and ranked congestion and mobility trends in over 1000 cities, across 37 countries.
The company used “diverse sources” of data to produce its analysis, including from phones and vehicles.
Istanbul (which was classified as an Asian city) was ranked as the most congested city in the world, with drivers spending 105 hours in traffic annually, followed by New York and Chicago (102 hours).
“Every year since 2020, we’ve seen traffic gradually rise towards what it was pre-pandemic,” added Pishue.
“While the US is still behind pre-2020 levels of traffic, a pullback of remote and hybrid work models, specifically in tech-heavy areas like San Jose, San Francisco, and Seattle, brought a large jump in downtown trips, which is a good sign for metropolitan economies.
“The data also shows more economic activity Saturday and Sunday evenings as the downtown core returns to life.”
Image: sheila-c-unsplash
