Traffic costs full-time drivers in Australia’s largest cities thousands of dollars in lost time and fuel every year, according to new analysis from iSelect Lazy drives Report.
In the 11 largest cities, commuters who travel to work together lose about 212 million hours annually in traffic and spend another $462 million on additional fuel.
The estimated cost to the economy is $9.7 billion, based on lost opportunity costs – the loss of potential gains due to congestion.
In total, traffic costs drivers more than $10.1 billion annually.
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On a per-driver basis, the study finds that the average full-time worker in Australia’s major cities loses about 59 hours, or about two and a half days, to traffic annually, at an average annual cost of about $2,788 in time and fuel.
| Key metric | figure |
|---|---|
| Total time lost in traffic (11 cities) | ~212 million hours per year |
| Total annual congestion costs | Just over $10.1 billion |
| Average per full-time driver (large cities) | ~59 hours per year (~2.5 days) |
| Average cost per driver | About $2788 per year |
| Most expensive city for drivers | Melbourne – $4628 per year, 3 days 22 hours lost |
| City with the most time wasted | Sydney – $4568 per year, 4 days, 0 hours and 25 minutes lost |
| Least affected city | Darwin – $1390 per year, 1 day, 3 hours and 32 minutes loss |
| Profession with the highest costs | Doctors – $6,784 per year |
Using TomTom traffic data, ABS Census commuting patterns, average hourly wages and real fuel consumption, the analysis compares how congestion affects drivers in each city’s central business district and wider metropolitan area.
When it comes to costs, Melbourne comes off worst. The typical full-time driver there loses 3 days, 22 hours and 5 minutes to traffic each year, with an estimated annual congestion bill of $4,628, made up of about $4,457 in lost time and $171 in additional fuel.
Sydney drivers lose slightly more time to traffic overall, at 4 days and 25 minutes per year, but slightly less money, at $4,568 per year in combined time and fuel costs. The largest part of this is the opportunity cost of time, which is about $4,406 per year, plus $162 in additional fuel.
Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide round out the top five cities for annual congestion costs, each over $3,300 per year for time and fuel combined. At the other end of the scale, Darwin drivers lose about 1 day, 3 hours and 32 minutes to traffic annually, costing about $1390.
When the focus shifts to city center driving, Adelaide has the slowest rush hour inner city traffic in the study.
On a typical 20km round trip through the city center, Adelaide drivers lose around 22 minutes and 10 seconds per day compared to free traffic conditions. This equates to around three days and 13 hours per year spent in traffic jams, with the average rush hour traffic jam level being around 66 percent.
Melbourne city center is just behind, with drivers losing around 21 minutes and 55 seconds per day, or 3 days and 12 hours per year, on the same 20km return journey, while Sydney and Brisbane follow. Wollongong and Darwin experience the lowest time losses in the CBD, with drivers there losing just over 7 minutes a day to city center congestion.
Looking at the larger metropolitan areas, Sydney is once again the hardest hit. Across the metropolitan area, average rush hour speeds drop to about 17 mph, making a 12-mile round trip on the road take more than 44 minutes and costing drivers about 15 minutes of additional travel time per day compared to optimal conditions.
Melbourne comes second in terms of subway congestion, followed by Adelaide, Newcastle and the Gold Coast, while Darwin again has the smoothest connections.
The burden is not evenly distributed across the workforce. When the data is broken down by occupation, stationary plant operators lose the most time, with long average commutes, little or no work from home, and 4 days, 10 hours and 7 minutes per year lost to traffic.
Military personnel, firefighters and police officers are close behind at 4 days, 5 hours and 12 minutes per year, followed by doctors and several technical and commercial professions, who also spend more than four days per year in traffic.
When it comes to pure dollar costs, doctors are hit the hardest. With an average hourly wage of about $65.60 and more than four days a year spent stuck in traffic, their combined time and fuel bill comes to about $6,784 per year. Air and maritime transportation professionals, health diagnostics and promotion professionals, ICT managers, and advertising and public relations managers face congestion costs in the range of $5,100 to $5,400.
For drivers in these roles, traffic congestion is effectively an unpaid extension of the workday, and the study suggests that for many urban commuters, traffic is now a major hidden cost of maintaining a job that relies on cars.
Delayed trips modeling is based on 2021 ABS Census data and 2024 ABS employment characteristics for commuting distances, home working days and hourly earnings, combined with petrol prices from the ACCC’s June 2025 Australian Petroleum Market Report, real fuel consumption figures from the Real World Testing Program and powertrain mix data from BITRE’s Road Vehicles Australia 2025 report.
Table 1: Annual congestion time and costs by city
(Full-time employees who drive to work, 2025 estimates)
| rank | City | Annual time lost due to traffic | Annual congestion costs (time + fuel) | Time lost from this | Additional fuel costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne | 3 days, 22 hours, 5 minutes | $4628 | $4457 | $171 |
| 2 | Sydney | 4 days, 0 hours, 25 minutes | $4568 | $4406 | $162 |
| 3 | Perth | 2 days, 21 hours, 35 minutes | $3496 | $3292 | $204 |
| 4 | Brisbane | 3 days, 1 hour, 46 minutes | $3447 | $3259 | $188 |
| 5 | Adelaide | 3 days, 5 hours, 50 minutes | $3377 | $3225 | $152 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 2 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes | $2587 | $2409 | $178 |
| 7 | Gold Coast | 2 days, 4 hours, 45 minutes | $2443 | $2244 | $199 |
| 8 | Canberra | 1 day, 16 hours, 14 minutes | $2244 | $2118 | $126 |
| 9 | Hobart | 1 day, 20 hours, 58 minutes | $1856 | $1700 | $156 |
| 10 | Wollongong | 1 day, 15 hours, 21 minutes | $1814 | $1574 | $240 |
| 11 | Darwin | 1 day, 3 hours, 32 minutes | $1390 | $1213 | $176 |
Table 2: City center rush hour delays, by city
(Typical 20km return trip through CBD, 2025 estimates)
| rank | City | Extra time in traffic every day | Additional time during rush hour per year | Congestion levels at rush hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelaide | 22 min 10 sec | 3 days 13 hours | 66.0% |
| 2 | Melbourne | 21 min 55 sec | 3 days 12 hours | 66.6% |
| 3 | Sydney | 19 min 34 sec | 3 days 3 hours | 53.3% |
| 4 | Brisbane | 18 min 31 sec | 2 days 23 hours | 60.3% |
| 5 | Gold Coast | 15 min 39 sec | 2 days 12 hours | 50.9% |
| 6 | Perth | 14 min 21 sec | 2 days 7 hours | 53.1% |
| 7 | Newcastle | 13 min 34 sec | 2 days 4 hours | 45.7% |
| 8 | Hobart | 13 min 34 sec | 2 days 4 hours | 48.6% |
| 9 | Canberra | 11 min 29 sec | 1 day 20 hours | 44.9% |
| 10 | Wollongong | 7 min 50 sec | 1 day 6 hours | 35.0% |
| 11 | Darwin | 7 min 18 sec | 1 day 4 hours | 30.5% |
Table 3: Occupations that waste the most time in traffic
(Top 10 by annual time loss, full-time employees across Australia who drive to work)
| rank | Profession | Annual time lost due to traffic | Annual congestion costs (time + fuel) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Operators of stationary systems | 4 days, 10 hours, 7 minutes | $4892 |
| 2 | Members of the armed forces, fire brigade and police | 4 days, 5 hours, 12 minutes | $4955 |
| 3 | medical professionals | 4 days, 4 hours, 9 minutes | $6784 |
| 4 | Specialists in health diagnostics and promotion | 4 days, 2 hours, 31 minutes | $5418 |
| 5 | Workers in the electronics and telecommunications industries | 4 days, 0 hours, 46 minutes | $4574 |
| 6 | Building and engineering technicians | 3 days, 18 hours, 22 minutes | $4893 |
| 7 | Health therapy professionals | 3 days, 17 hours, 51 minutes | $4678 |
| 8 | Midwives and nursing professionals | 3 days, 14 hours, 42 minutes | $4608 |
| 9 | Engineering professionals | 3 days, 12 hours, 39 minutes | $4953 |
| 10 | Experts in the fields of natural sciences and physics | 3 days, 9 hours, 53 minutes | $4596 |
