Traffic Congestion Costs in 2018 Total 67.7 Trillion Won... 3.6% of GDP

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] A survey revealed that the nationwide traffic congestion cost in 2018 exceeded 67 trillion won, accounting for 3.6% of the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to the Korea Transport Institute on the 16th, the nationwide traffic congestion cost in 2018 was 67.7631 trillion won, an increase of 13.7% compared to the previous year.

Traffic congestion cost is the monetary value of various losses caused by traffic congestion, consisting of vehicle operation costs and time value costs.

The annual traffic congestion costs were 55.8595 trillion won in 2016, 59.6193 trillion won in 2017, and 67.7631 trillion won in 2018, showing an increase of about 10% each year.

The traffic congestion cost relative to GDP was 3.6%, much higher than major countries such as the United States (0.9%), the United Kingdom (0.4%), and Germany (0.2%).

By region, the traffic congestion cost in the Seoul Capital Area was 35.4246 trillion won, accounting for 52% of the total. This was followed by special and metropolitan cities at 14.8388 trillion won (22%) and other cities and provinces at 17.4997 trillion won (26%).

The Korea Transport Institute analyzed that traffic congestion is becoming increasingly severe due to the increase in the number of registered vehicles, the commonality of 2 to 3 vehicles per household, and the increase in 'single-occupant vehicles.'

The Korea Transport Institute explained that this traffic congestion cost was estimated using vehicle location information system (GPS) big data, covering about 95% of roads nationwide.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.