Frustrated and Honking? The average UK driver spends EIGHT MONTHS of their life just stuck in traffic
The average UK driver spends almost FOUR YEARS behind the wheel in their lifetime, with EIGHT MONTHS of this waiting in traffic.
The typical driver also clocks up 592,920 miles in their lifetime, enough to travel to the moon and back, or around the globe 24 times!
Still it could be worse – in fact UK drivers came 10th in a new study on traffic jams by online language platform Preply, which reveals just how long people across the globe spend waiting in traffic.
While Londoners typically spend 43 minutes per day waiting in traffic, in New Delhi, India, that rises to just under an hour.
Here’s how London compares overall:
| City | Position | Minutes spent in traffic per day |
| New Delhi, India | 1 | 57.37 |
| Manila, Philippines | 2 | 54.02 |
| Jakarta, Indonesia | 3 | 52.88 |
| Mexico City, Mexico | 4 | 52.45 |
| Bogotá, Colombia | 5 | 51.96 |
| Cairo, Egypt | 6 | 50.21 |
| Buenos Aires, Argentina | 7 | 48.15 |
| Bangkok, Thailand | 8 | 46.18 |
| Beijing, China | 9 | 44.61 |
| London, United Kingdom | 10 | 43.72 |
| Paris, France | 11 | 42.52 |
| Seoul, South Korea | 12 | 42.22 |
| Tokyo, Japan | 13 | 42.19 |
| Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 14 | 41.78 |
| Rome, Italy | 15 | 41.36 |
Credit: Preply
With a population of 23 million, it’s no surprise that New Delhi is highly congested.
Manile, Philippines takes second place, with 54 minutes, whilst citizens of Jakarta, Indonesia spend 52 minutes.
London, UK is placed 10th, with the average Londoner being in traffic for 43 minutes every single day! That’s over 5 hours a week or 150 hours each month!
Paris, France is just a minute behind London in 11th place, with 42 minutes a day. Rome, Italy takes 15th place with 41 minutes.
However, on getting to work, how many hours a year will you spend working?
Average working hours by year
The report by Preply also researched the cities across the globe which work the most hours per year. The average number of working hours in London, UK is 2,003, but how do other cities compare?
Coming in at number one, as the city which works the most hours is Hanoi, Vietnam, with citizens working on average 2,691 hours, or 10.5 hours a day!
Here’s the full list:
This is definitely something to bear in mind when being frustrated as you queue today. Try to make the journey as positive as possible and let go of stress and road rage. If you are going to spend eight months of your life in congestion, make it as relaxing as possible.
