European capitals with the biggest traffic jams and according labor costs

If you could put a price on how much valuable time you lose in traffic, every Dublin driver would be €6,351 poorer each year, the most of 25 European capitals. And that is only during rush hour. Paris ranked second, losing €5,064 worth of traffic time. Brussels trails closely behind, where rush hour traffic costs each driver €4,898 a year.

This is according to a new study from the European car parts marketplace Ovoko, which analyzed 2023 traffic data from TomTom for 25 European capital cities. They estimated the financial equivalent of each driver’s lost time based on the hourly labor cost in 2023, sourced from Eurostat.

Top four

Dublin (Ireland) drivers lose the most money to traffic jams compared to their European counterparts included in this study. It also has the most infernal roads of all analyzed cities, where drivers lose 158 hours per year during rush hour alone. The labor cost is estimated at €40.20 an hour, which amounts to €6,351.60, with all lost stuck behind the wheel.

Paris (France) is Europe’s second-most costly capital city in terms of time lost in rush hour traffic. Parisian drivers spend 120 hours on congested roads every year, the third-highest time of all analyzed cities. The labor cost, which refers to compensation of employees plus taxes minus subsidies, is €42.20 an hour in France, meaning drivers lose the equivalent of €5,064 a year being stuck in traffic.

Brussels (Belgium) rush hour is the third costliest of all analyzed European capitals. Drivers here spend 104 hours in traffic over a year. With 2023 Belgian labor costs at €47.10 an hour, this amounts to €4,898.40 lost to excruciating traffic jams.

Luxembourg ranks fourth, not because people spend so much time in traffic—the city is relatively small compared to other capitals—but because the labor cost is the highest in the European Union, at €53.9 per hour.

Often dubbed Little Paris due to their architectural similarities, Bucharest replicates the inherent traffic nightmares of its French inspiration. It is the second most traffic-plagued city of all analyzed European capitals. Drivers here waste 150 hours in traffic. At €11.0 per hour, labor time is not as valued in Romania as it is in most European countries. Bucharest did not rank highly overall, specifically in terms of the economic equivalent of the time lost to rush hour traffic.

The other side of the scale

Nearby Sofia (Bulgaria) is the least financially affected capital city. Though drivers still spend 90 hours a year on its busy roads, due to low labor costs, they lose the equivalent of €837 per year.

Drivers from Bratislava (Slovakia) and Ljubljana (Slovenia) spend the least time in traffic, averaging 51 hours at peak time throughout 2023.  Amazingly, Madrid (Spain) ranks at the same level, scoring slightly higher than the other two in cost because of the higher labor cost (€24.6).

Scandinavian cities also rank high, not because of the hours spent in traffic jams but because of the higher labor costs. But overall, the gap between the first four and the following ten is noticeable.

Unfit for residents

“It is quite shocking that Dublin ranked so highly since it is one of the least populated capital cities in the EU,” said Vytas Palovis, VP of Growth for Ovoko. “With about 36 minutes stuck in traffic every single workday, it is clear that Dublin’s entire urban infrastructure seems unfit for its residents, and something needs to change.

“Unlike other European capital cities, traffic in Paris has a more dignified explanation for those who have not visited it yet. They say there is always a protest somewhere in Paris. Still, alternative routes are often minimal, so if you plan a visit there, allow more than enough time for car travel, especially at rush hour.” It’s a remark that would fit many other capitals, too.