Traffic congestion in Auckland is worse than in Hong Kong, according to new data.

GPS company TomTom's latest global traffic index has ranked Auckland the 40th worst big city in the world when it comes to congestion, and four places above Hong Kong, which has a population of more than 7 million.

It found Auckland commuters on average spent 45 minutes a day - or more than a week a year - extra time stuck in traffic last year.

That means, drivers in the city were spending 38 per cent extra time travelling due to congestion, up from 33 per cent in the same analysis the year before.

And while Aucklanders are still better off than drivers in Sydney, which ranked 29th among cities with populations of more than 800,000, New Zealand now overall fared worse than Australia.

Those in Wellington were now spending more than 34 per cent extra time travelling due to traffic jams, making its commute the 19th worst in the world for a city of its size.

That's an increase of 4 per cent from 2015 and amounts to an extra 43 minutes a day travel time for commuters.

The capital's morning commute, 72 per cent extra time, was the third worst in the world in 2016.

Congestion in Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton all also rose from 2015, according to the survey.