How many hours do you lose in traffic each year?
Perhaps this article will make your life a bit more miserable the next time you find yourself sitting in a long traffic queue. Either way, we think it's worth looking at the number of hours we end up losing (annually) whilst sitting in traffic in some of the most congested cities on the planet.
By Divyank K. Bansal
Although not surprising, three of the top ten cities with the highest number of annual hours lost in traffic belong to India!
Perhaps this article will make your life a bit more miserable the next time you find yourself sitting in a long traffic queue. Either way, we think it's worth looking at the number of hours we end up losing (annually) whilst sitting in traffic for some of the most popular (or congested) cities on the planet.
Research carried out by UK-based insurance broker GoShorty studied the TomTom Congestion Index to determine which cities around the world have the busiest roads, or in other words, in which cities people spend the most hours in traffic.
Concluding the top three is Maharashtra's capital city, Mumbai, with 121 hours lost to traffic jams annually. While the city had a congestion rate of 53% as of 2021, it saw no decrease as compared to the year before. In addition, the traffic has decreased by 12% since 2019, marking a positive change in traffic and potentially the emissions in the city. Other Indian cities, like Bengaluru and New Delhi, are also in the global top 10, with 110 hours lost to traffic every year.
Istanbul, the most populated city in Turkey / Europe (the city technically lies in both Europe and Asia, along the Bosporus Strait), is officially the most congested city in the world, according to this research, with a congestion level of 62%. Residents of the Turkish capital spend around 142 hours or nearly six whole days in traffic jams. Following Istanbul in second place is one of the largest cities in the world, Bogota (Colombia), with a congestion level of 55%.
| Rank | City | Country | Annual Hours Lost in Traffic | Congestion Level |
| 1 | Istanbul | Turkey | 142 | 62% |
| 2 | Bogota | Colombia | 126 | 55% |
| 3 | Mumbai | India | 121 | 53% |
| 4 | Bucharest | Romania | 115 | 50% |
| 5 | Bengaluru | India | 110 | 48% |
| 5 | New Delhi | India | 110 | 48% |
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