The Burrow
May 3, 2023
For some people, driving a car is its own reward. The pleasure of driving isn’t dependent on getting you from point A to point B (though the freedom of mobility and utility a car provides cannot be understated), but it can be affected by multiple factors.
Beyond picturesque driving roads like Australia’s Great Ocean Road or along the Amalfi Coast in Italy, the joy of driving can hinge on a variety of things like road quality and congestion. As experts in car insurance, we also recognise that various motoring expenses can play a part in the car ownership experience, too.
Compare the Market has run the numbers across six different factors for 22 different countries to weigh up which ones are arguably the best overall for car owners, and which ones could be leaving drivers daydreaming of being anywhere else.
Taking out top spot on our list is the Netherlands. The Netherlands had the highest overall score at 7.14/10. The Dutch homeland ranks so well thanks to having the second-smallest motoring expenses to income ratio at 8% (tying with the USA and Switzerland).
The Netherlands also had the smallest average annual hours spent in rush hour at 96 hours a year, the highest road quality score of 6.4, and very high vehicle standards. All these high scores for different metrics are the perfect ingredients for a pleasant drive through the beautiful and historic Dutch countryside.
Second in the running was the USA with a score of 6.35/10. The USA had the same low motoring expenses to income ratio as the Netherlands of 8%, plus the second-lowest average annual number of hours spent in rush hour traffic.
However, it’s important to note that this national average is based on very different experiences depending on location. For example, New York, Washington and San Francisco see drivers spending hundreds of hours on average in rush hour traffic, compared to other towns like Oklahoma City or Knoxville where drivers spend 75 hours or less in rush hour traffic per year.1
The USA also had the cheapest petrol price per litre,^ but was held back by a very high mortality rate and lower vehicle standards in comparison to most other countries on the list.
The third-best nation for driving a car in was Switzerland. Again, Switzerland had the same low motoring expenses to income ratio as the USA and the Netherlands, the second-best road quality score at 6.3, the lowest road mortality rate of 2.7 per 100,000 (tying with Norway), and really high vehicle standards.
What held Switzerland back from ranking higher was a longer amount of time spent in rush hour traffic and high price for petrol. Overall, however, Switzerland scores well for most factors related to owning and driving a car, and with breath-taking scenery like the iconic Furka Pass or stunning Gotthard Pass, it’s great to be a car driver in this picturesque nation.
Coming across the line for the worst countries on our list to be a car owner is a tie between Mexico and Greece, who both scored 1.83/10. Both of these countries scored poorly in multiple areas.
Mexico had the worst motoring expenses to income ratio of 30%, followed by Greece with the second-worst at 17% (Greece had the same expenses ratio as the Czech Republic). Mexico had the worst traffic time average at 244 hours a year, while Greece had the third-worst at 193 hours.
Road quality scores for both countries were low, but not the worst on the list. Mexico had the worst road mortality rate of 13.1 per 100,000, while Greece had the fifth-worst at 9.2 per 100,000. What made Greece score just as badly overall as Mexico was that Mexico had cheap petrol prices, whereas Greece had the third-most expensive petrol price of all countries on the index.
Hungary had the second-lowest score of all 22 countries at 2.46/10. The nation had the fourth-highest motoring expenses ratio at 14% (the same as New Zealand) and the second-highest average time spent in rush hour per year at 208 hours. Additionally, Hungary’s road quality score was the second-lowest at 4, while they had the sixth-highest road mortality rate at 7.8 per 100,000.
Rounding out the worst performing countries was another tie, with Italy and Poland having the third-lowest score at 3.33/10. Italy had the third-worst motoring expenses ratio at 15% (the same ratio as Portugal), while Poland had the fifth-worst time spent in congestion traffic at 170 hours per year.
Poland had the third-lowest road quality score at 4.3, while Italy was barely better at 4.4. Poland had the fourth-highest road mortality rate at 9.7 per 100,000, while Italy had the sixth-most expensive fuel cost per litre.
| Rank | Country | Motoring Expenses to Income Ratio | Average Congestions Hours | Road Quality | Road Mortality Rate | Petrol Price (USD/L) | Vehicle Standard Score | Index Score |
| 1 | Netherlands | 8% | 96 | 6.4 | 3.8 | $2.05 | 8 | 7.14 |
| 2 | USA | 8% | 105 | 5.5 | 12.4 | $1.04 | 6 | 6.35 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 8% | 152 | 6.3 | 2.7 | $2.02 | 8 | 6.27 |
| 4 | Sweden | 11% | 128 | 5.3 | 2.8 | $1.96 | 8 | 6.19 |
| 5 | Germany | 11% | 136 | 5.3 | 4.1 | $1.99 | 8 | 5.64 |
| 6 | Australia | 10% | 149 | 4.9 | 5.6 | $1.15 | 7 | 5.40 |
| 7 | France | 10% | 146 | 5.4 | 5.5 | $2.12 | 8 | 5.08 |
| 7 | Norway | 11% | 129 | 4.5 | 2.7 | $2.20 | 8 | 5.08 |
| 8 | Portugal | 15% | 130 | 6.0 | 7.4 | $1.87 | 8 | 4.92 |
| 8 | Türkiye | 4% | 163 | 5.0 | 12.3 | $1.16 | 7 | 4.92 |
| 8 | UK | 11% | 163 | 4.9 | 3.1 | $1.81 | 8 | 4.92 |
| 9 | Denmark | 13% | 140 | 5.6 | 4.0 | $2.19 | 8 | 4.84 |
| 10 | Canada | 11% | 144 | 5.0 | 5.8 | $1.35 | 6 | 4.68 |
| 11 | Finland | 12% | 137 | 5.3 | 4.7 | $2.12 | 8 | 4.53 |
| 12 | Czech Republic | 17% | 124 | 3.9 | 5.9 | $1.75 | 8 | 3.89 |
| 13 | Ireland | 13% | 179 | 4.4 | 4.1 | $1.76 | 8 | 3.73 |
| 14 | New Zealand | 14% | 148 | 4.5 | 7.8 | $1.64 | 7 | 3.49 |
| 15 | Italy | 15% | 137 | 4.4 | 5.6 | $2.06 | 8 | 3.33 |
| 15 | Poland | 11% | 170 | 4.3 | 9.7 | $1.60 | 8 | 3.33 |
| 16 | Hungary | 14% | 208 | 4.0 | 7.8 | $1.79 | 8 | 2.46 |
| 17 | Greece | 17% | 193 | 4.6 | 9.2 | $2.12 | 8 | 1.83 |
| 17 | Mexico | 30% | 244 | 4.5 | 13.1 | $1.34 | 1 | 1.83 |
In a country like Australia, there’s not a lot we can do about motoring expenses like registration and taxes, but car insurance is one factor that we can influence ourselves. Compare the Market’s General Manager of General Insurance, Adrian Taylor, explains how.
“Car insurance is a pretty important purchase that helps give you financial security should your vehicle be damaged from certain events, and can help you cover your liability when you get behind the wheel,” Taylor begins. “There are a lot of car insurance brands out there, each offering a different price and cover.”
“By comparing your options, you can look for a deal that suits you, helping save money or getting more bang for your buck by finding something more appropriate,” Taylor explains. “Regularly comparing your options can help you minimise your car ownership expenses, while also providing peace of mind as you head out on the road.”
Compare the Market sourced multiple data points to create the index. To calculate an overall index score, each country was ranked with a score between 0 to 10 for each metric, with 10 representing the best score and 0 the worst score. All these scores were then averaged together to create an equally weighted index score out of 10.
To calculate the motoring expenses ratio, each country’s annual average car related expenses were converted from Euros to US dollars on 19/04/2023 using Google’s currency converter tool. These prices were then divided by the average annual income (in US dollars) to create a motoring expenses ratio, expressed as a percentage of income.
Average congestion hours used TomTom’s Traffic Index 2022 rankings. Using every city with data provided in TomTom’s index for each country we examined, we calculated an average annual number of hours spent in rush hour traffic.
Road quality was based on the 2019 World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index report, where countries were given a score out of seven for road quality, with seven being the best possible score. Road mortality rates were based on World Health Organization data. Petrol prices were taken on 16/04/2023 but are subject to change. Vehicle standard scores were sourced from the World Health Organization and based out of a score of eight, where eight was the best possible score.
Here is how we scored each factor before calculating an equally weighted average of all scores:
1 TomTom Traffic Index: Ranking 2022. TomTom. 2023.
^ Petrol prices accurate as of 16/04/23 and subject to change