London ‘most congested’ city with delays costing drivers and fleets

London is the most congested city in Europe and the fifth most congested city globally, with drivers losing 101 hours sitting in traffic, a 2% increase in delays from 2023. 

The capital continues to account for approximately 50% of all UK traffic delay. The total cost to London was £3.85 billion, averaging £942 per driver.

For the UK as whole, the country lost £7.7bn, £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 £581 per driver per year. 

Bob Pishue, transportation analyst and author of the Inrix 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard, said: “While the UK did see a slight increase in congestion again this year, overall congestion has remained steady. 

“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%.”

While London only had a modest increase in time lost, it still represented half of the entire country’s delay.

Bristol and Leeds both moved up a spot while Birmingham and Wigan fell. Sheffield and Edinburgh were added to the top 10 list this year, as delays grew to 53 hours lost per driver in both places.

Manchester has continued its rise to the 4th ranked spot in the country, after moving from 11th to 8th from 2022-2023, and from 8th to 4th in 2024. 

10 most congested urban areas in the UK

Source:Inrix

London holds most of the top corridors for traffic delays in the UK. 

Driving on London’s most congested corridor – Westbound A40 between the North Circular and the A406 –at the 5:00 PM peak hour took an extra 17 minutes or 68 hours sitting in traffic over the course of the year. 

Road works at the Wisely Bypass on the M25 and M3 caused high levels of delays with that corridor coming in third in the UK.

The busiest corridor in Bristol, the second most-congested urban area in the UK, was the AA420 Eastbound from the Lawrence Hill Roundabout to Hollow Road. At 4:00PM on the weekday drivers lose about 5 minutes a day, or 21 hours annually.

Most congested UK roads by top three cities in 2024

Source:Inrix

Like the US and Germany, the UK saw traffic congestion grow in 2023 and reach pre-Covid levels.

London’s 2% increase is lower than cities in the global top 25 suggesting that the city rebounded from the effects of Covid sooner and other cities are catching up. 

The capital is also the only UK city in the global top 25 cities.

Despite all seeing growth in congestion Birmingham, Leeds and Wigan fell in the impact rankings as congestion in other cities grew faster.

Most Congested Cities in the World in 2024

Source:Inrix