It’s official: Mexico City’s traffic is the worst in the world
The Mexican capital is far from alone. Almost half of the world's 20 most congested cities are in Latin America, according to traffic monitor TomTom, who used GPS data to rank each city's mobility — or lack of it. The post It’s official: Mexico City’s traffic is the worst in the world appeared first on Mexico News Daily
As the world prepares to observe Car-Free Day on September 22, Mexico City residents find themselves in a particularly dire need for alternative transportation methods, having once again earned the title of the most congested city globally. According to the annual Traffic Index by navigation-device manufacturer TomTom, Mexico City experienced an average congestion level of 75.9% in 2025, a slight improvement of 3.6 percentage points from the previous year, but still a far cry from clear roads.
The city edged out Barranquilla, Colombia, which had previously held the top spot, and had previously dethroned Mexico City in the previous year's ranking. The top seven most congested cities in the world, as determined by TomTom, are Mexico City (75.9%), Bengaluru, India (74.4%), Dublin, Ireland (72.9%), London, UK, Barcelona, Spain, Athens, Greece, and Lisbon, Portugal.
TomTom generated this ranking using anonymized GPS data from one in three vehicles on the road in cities worldwide. The data reveals how much slower traffic is moving compared to clear road conditions. In Mexico City, it takes an average of 34 minutes and 29 seconds to travel 10 kilometers — 58 seconds longer than the year before.
Consequently, motorists can expect to cover only about 4.4 kilometers in a 15-minute period. During peak traffic times, drivers are lucky to reach a mere 13.5 kilometers per hour. The financial impact of this congestion is significant, as TomTom estimates that each driver loses 184 hours to traffic jams annually, amounting to seven days and 16 hours of lost time.
While this figure represents a one-hour and 16-minute decrease from 2024, it still highlights the persistent issue of traffic congestion in the metropolitan area. Wednesday, May 28, 2025, was the most congested day of the year, with an average congestion level of 117%, peaking at 167% at 3:00 p.m. Mexico City's traffic woes are not unique, as TomTom's report reveals that major cities worldwide experienced even greater travel times in 2025 compared to 2024.
The majority of the nearly 500 cities analyzed saw increased congestion levels and longer travel times per kilometer. In Mexico, other cities that made the ranking include Guadalajara (No. 17), Monterrey (No. 111), Tijuana (No. 118), León (No. 186), Ecatepec, Mexico State (No. 197), and Puebla city (No. 211).
Written by urgent.news from Mexico News Daily's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
