Anyone who’s sat in gridlock on a “quick 20-minute drive” in an unfamiliar city knows traffic congestion is one of the more universal travel frustrations. Unlike crime or disaster risk, though, there’s genuinely one dominant global authority on this: the TomTom Traffic Index, now in its 15th edition, which analyses real driving data from over 500 cities in 62 countries using anonymised GPS data from hundreds of millions of connected devices.
The figures below are from the 2025 edition of the index (released January 2026, based on 2025 driving data), using TomTom’s primary metric: Congestion Level, the average additional time lost to traffic compared with driving in free-flow conditions. It’s worth knowing that TomTom also publishes a second metric, average travel time per 10km, which measures how physically slow a city’s roads are rather than how much worse than “normal” they’ve become. The two don’t always agree, and I’ve noted below where that matters.
The Worst 10 for Congestion Level (TomTom Traffic Index, 2025)
1. Mexico City, Mexico — 75.9% congestion
Mexico City takes the global top spot, with drivers losing an average of 184 hours a year to rush-hour traffic. It’s a city where the metro and Metrobús network genuinely outperform driving for most cross-town journeys, something worth knowing if you’re staying centrally.
2. Bengaluru, India — 74.4% congestion
India’s tech hub is the most congested city in Asia by a clear margin, a consequence of explosive growth in vehicle ownership outpacing road infrastructure. Ride-hailing apps and the city’s expanding metro system are the practical workarounds most residents rely on.
3. Dublin, Ireland — 72.9% congestion
Dublin’s result is a genuine surprise for a city of its size, and reflects a historic street layout never designed for modern traffic volumes. Drivers here lost an average of 191 hours a year, among the highest of any city globally.
4. Pune, India — Asia’s 2nd, global top 5
Pune overtook Mumbai this year to become one of the five most congested cities in the world, driven by rapid IT-sector growth and a road network struggling to keep pace.
5. Davao City, Philippines — 66.2% congestion
The Philippines’ southern hub has topped the country’s own traffic rankings for several years running, with drivers losing around 168 hours annually. Metro Manila, despite its reputation, has actually improved its global ranking in recent years by comparison.
6. Bangkok, Thailand — 67.9% congestion
Bangkok’s traffic is practically a rite of passage for visitors, and the data bears out the reputation: it’s consistently among Asia’s most congested cities, driven by a combination of geography (the city is built on a river delta with limited crossing points) and rapid urban sprawl.
7. Bandung, Indonesia — 64.1% congestion
A popular weekend escape from Jakarta for its cooler climate, Bandung’s own traffic has become a significant local issue as it’s grown into a major urban centre in its own right.
8. Jakarta, Indonesia — 59.8% congestion
Jakarta’s congestion level jumped sharply in this year’s report, climbing from 90th place globally to 24th. The city government has responded by expanding its integrated public transport network across Greater Jakarta.
9. Mumbai, India — improving, but still a top-10 Asian city
Mumbai actually saw a slight improvement this year, with time lost to congestion easing to 126 hours annually, though it remains firmly among Asia’s most congested cities.
10. Manila, Philippines — 57.3% congestion
Manila’s city-centre congestion level actually eased slightly compared to the previous year, though the wider metro area (Metro Manila) tells a tougher story, ranking much higher globally when measured across its full trip-dense region rather than just the city core.
Where the two metrics disagree
Congestion Level (used above) measures how much worse than normal a city’s traffic is — a high score means the gap between rush hour and free-flow driving is severe. But TomTom’s other headline metric, average travel time per 10km, measures the absolute slowness of a city’s roads regardless of that gap, and it produces a genuinely different leaderboard. By that measure, cities like Barranquilla (Colombia), Kolkata (India) and London consistently rank among the world’s slowest, even though their Congestion Level scores don’t always place them in the global top 10.
A city can have merciful free-flow conditions and still be slow overall (dense, narrow streets with a low speed limit even without jams), while another can have fast free-flow roads that become disproportionately awful the moment rush hour hits. Both are useful, and they’re measuring genuinely different things.
Practical takeaways for travellers
- Don’t rent a car for city-centre stays in any of the cities above. Public transport, ride-hailing, or simply walking will very often beat driving, even over longer distances.
- Build in serious buffer time for airport transfers, particularly in Mexico City, Bangkok and Manila, where a “30-minute” airport run can easily become 90 minutes at the wrong time of day.
- Time your sightseeing around rush hour, not just your transport. Museums and attractions in gridlocked cities are often far more pleasant to reach mid-morning or early afternoon than during the 7-9am or 5-7pm crush.
- Check whether your destination has a metro or light rail system before assuming you’ll need a taxi or rental car — several of the cities above (Mexico City, Bangkok, Manila) have genuinely excellent rail networks that sidestep the worst of the road congestion entirely.
Source: TomTom Traffic Index 2025 (15th edition), published January 2026, based on 2025 driving data from over 500 cities in 62 countries.
This article reflects the most recently published edition of the TomTom Traffic Index at the time of writing and is intended as general travel guidance.
Amanda O’Brien is the creator and editor of The Boutique Adventurer. She has visited 80 countries and is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers as well as the IFTWTA. She is passionate about wine had has just completed Level 3 of the WSET. Born in Australia, she lives in London.