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Most and least congested cities worldwide (2024-25): India’s cities with worst traffic revealed

Most and Least Congested Global Cities 2024-25: Mexico City, with a congestion rate of 52 per cent, is the most congested city globally; meanwhile, Al Baha in Saudi Arabia is the least congested city in the world, with a congestion level of just 7%.

TomTom Traffic Index 2024-25: Check the world's 10 most and least congested cities in 2024-25; also check India's worst traffic cities and their global ranks. (Source: Canva)

TomTom Traffic Index – Most and Least Congested Global Cities 2024-25: 76% of cities worldwide have experienced a decline in average traffic speeds over the past year in 2024, a recent report from Tom’s Traffic Index 2024 reveals, highlighting traffic congestion as a significant issue for urban areas globally.

Mexico City, with a congestion rate of 52 per cent and an average travel time of 31 minutes and 53 seconds in rush-hour traffic, has been ranked as the most congested city for 2024-25.

The journey times are 52 per cent longer than what would be expected under ideal traffic conditions, which led it to lose 152 hours in traffic jams (on a typical 10-kilometre journey, made every working day in the morning and evening) – almost a week’s worth over the year.

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Al Baha In Saudi Arabia, is the least congested city in the world. The city has an average travel time of 11 minutes 17 seconds per 10 km and a congestion level of just 7%, leading to only 7 hours lost per year in rush hours.

The least congested cities in the world are largely dominated by Middle Eastern countries, with Saudi Arabia demonstrating remarkable traffic efficiency – five of its cities securing spots on the list.

Top 10 most-congested cities in the world (2024-25):

Congestion Global Rank	City	Country	Average travel time (per 10 km)	Congestion level %	Time lost per year during rush hours
1	Mexico City	Mexico	31 min 53 s	52%	152 hours
2	Bangkok	Thailand	21 min 51 s	50%	96 hours
3	Davao City	Philippines	32 min 59 s	49%	136 hours
4	Kumamoto	Japan	32 min 37 s	49%	149 hours
5	Bucharest	Romania	31 min 9 s	48%	150 hours
6	Plovdiv	Bulgaria	27 min 18 s	48%	107 hours
7	Lodz	Poland	26 min 6 s	48%	110 hours
8	Bandung	Indonesia	32 min 37 s	48%	108 hours
9	Lima	Peru	33 min 12 s	47%	155 hours
10	Dublin	Ireland	32 min 45 s	47%	155 hours

Source: TomTom Traffic Index 2025

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Top 10 least-congested cities in the world (2024-25):

Congestion Global Rank	City	Country	Average travel time (per 10 km)	Congestion level %	Time lost per year during rush hours
501	Al Baha	Saudi Arabia	11 min 17 s	7%	7 hours
500	Taif	Saudi Arabia	16 min 55 s	9%	16 hours
499	Port Said	Egypt	26 min 38 s	9%	30 hours
498	Al Ahsa	Saudi Arabia	14 min 6 s	9%	13 hours
497	Khor Fakkan	United Arab Emirates	13 min 57 s	9%	10 hours
496	Laqţah	Qatar	12 min 8 s	9%	11 hours
495	Buraydah	Saudi Arabia	14 min 26 s	10%	12 hours
494	Salto	Uruguay	19 min 37 s	10%	18 hours
493	Da Nang	Vietnam	14 min 7 s	11%	16 hours
492	Medina	Saudi Arabia	14 min 34 s	11%	15 hours

Source: TomTom Traffic Index 2025

Which are India’s most congested cities in 2024-25?

Indian cities struggle with severe traffic challenges, with about three cities – Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Pune, having made it into the top five slowest cities globally in the TomTom Traffic Index 2024.

However, surprisingly, when looking at the world’s slowest cities Bengaluru has been overtaken by Kolkata, with the ‘City of Joy’ having an average time to cover 10 km being 34 minutes and 33 seconds. (Express Photo: Jithendra M)

READ: Top 10 Indian cities with the slowest traffic in 2024-25: Bengaluru and Mumbai slip from the #1 spot

The IT capital of India, Bengaluru, is the most congested Indian city in 2024-25, ranking 65th globally, with a congestion rate of 38%. It has seen an increase of 50 seconds from 2023 in the average time to cover 10 km, now standing at 34 minutes and 10 seconds.

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Maharashtra’s two cities – Mumbai and Pune – follow next as the most congested cities, after a considerable gap, ranking 109 and 127, respectively, whereas, the capital of India, New Delhi, ranks 147 with a 33% congestion level in 2024-25.

Cherry Gupta

Cherry Gupta is an Assistant Manager – Content at The Indian Express. She leads the Top 10 section, curating list-based features on key national and international developments, and manages daily news content. She also produces SEO-driven articles and collaborates with the Lifestyle team to conduct interviews with notable artists and write workplace culture features. ... Read More

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