By Pascal Ibe

A Facebook page, Curiosmos, has posted a list of over 25 cities with the worst traffic congestion in the world.

The post with a picture of the list of countries attached to it reads, “25 Cities with the Worst Traffic in the World 🌎

According to the image the Facebook page shared, Manila in the Philippines was ranked first, and Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Istanbul, and Jakarta were placed second, third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

The post garnered over 5k reactions and hundreds of comments.

Under the comments section, many agreed with the data while others disagreed.

Given this, FACTWATCH Nigeria decides to fact-check the list of countries with the worst traffic in the world.

Verification

First, a new study from INRIX revealed some of the world’s worst cities for traffic congestion.

INRIX is a leader in transportation data and analytics and released its 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard, which identifies and ranks congestion and commuting trends in nearly 1,000 cities, across 37 countries.

According to statistics released by INRIXun in January 2025, Istanbul’s 105 hours lost to congestion has topped the worldwide rankings, followed closely by New York City (102 hours) and Chicago (102 hours). The report shows that 10 US cities made the Top 25 worst congested cities in the world. Mexico City was ranked fourth, London fifth, Paris sixth, Jakarta seventh, Los Angeles eighth, Cape Town ninth and Brisbane 10th.

The high congestion levels in many US cities reflect a reduction in working from home, which increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Every year since 2020, we’ve seen traffic gradually rise towards what it was pre-pandemic,” said Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at INRIX and author of the 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard. “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.”

The higher number of daily commuters heading downtown can bring economic benefits, but it’s a double-edged sword. Pishue continued, “Traffic can be an indicator of economic boon, but ironically, it’s a hamper on economies in of itself. Each minute spent waiting in traffic results in money and productivity lost.”

Overall, congestion resulted in drivers losing an average of 43 hours to traffic jams in 2024, equal to about one work week, costing $771 in lost time and productivity. Nationwide, this sums to more than four billion hours lost, costing $74 billion in lost time.

Further checks on other credible data from Statista show real travel times in Dublin are 66 percent longer than travel under free-flow conditions, making it the most congested urban sprawl in the world as of 2023. This figure refers to the additional average travel time throughout the week.

Statista placed the cities with the worst traffic in the world in percentage as follows:

Dublin —66%66%
Bengaluru — 63%63%
Mexico City — 63%63%
Bangkok — 62%62%
Lima — 61%61%
Pune — 57%57%
Bucharest — 55%55%
Jakarta — 53%53%
Istanbul —53%53%
Los Angeles — 53%53%
Recife — 51%51%
Rio de Janeiro —51%51%
Bogota —50%50%
Athens —49%49%
Sao Paulo — 48%48%
New Delhi — 48%48%

INRIX’s data further indicated that London topped the Traffic Scorecard in Europe – and placed fifth globally – with drivers losing 101 hours sitting in congestion, a two percent increase in delays from 2023. The capital continues to account for approximately 50% of all U.K. traffic delays. The total cost to London was £3.85 billion, averaging £942 per driver.

For the UK as a whole, the country lost £7.7 billion, £200 million more than in 2023. The average UK driver lost 62 hours due to traffic congestion last year, up only one from the previous year, equating to £581 per driver per year. The capital accounted for approximately 50% of all UK traffic delays.

Verdict

The recent data by INRIX showed that the cities with the worst traffic in the world shared by the Facebook page are MISLEADING and may be out of date.