Drive Smart

Speed Limits by Country

The speed limit was born in 1861 when the United Kingdom introduced a 10 mile per hour maximum known as the Locomotive Act. The UK is today one of the only places in the world to show speed limits in miles per hour, along with the USA while most other countries use kilometres per hour.
country speed limits
Today there is only one country in the world which has no speed limits at all – the Isle of Man – though famously there are areas of the German autobahns (motorways) which have only advisory speed limits known as 'richgeschwindigkeit'. Ironically fatalities on the autobahns have been less than some countries with lower speed limits like Japan where the limit is 100kph.

Speed limits vary in the various American states and between 1995 and 1999 Montana had a 'reasonable and prudent' speed limit which was non numerical. In the Northern Territory of Australia a speed limit of 110 or 130kph was introduced in 2007 after years of having no limits.

Poland has the world's highest speed limit which is 140kph on motorways, though the Austrians dabbled with having a 160kph variable limit on motorways in 2006. Variable speed limits are used on the M25 motorway in Britain with great success and they cut down on accidents and delays. Germany also has an advanced computer controlled variable speed limit system.

The United States generally has quite low speed limits at about 50mph on many freeways. In most of Europe the corresponding speed is 80kph. Europe designs its speed signs according to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals and uses a circular with black text on a white background and a red border. By contrast Canada and the U.S use rectangular signs.

speed limit statistics Netherlands
Speed limit cut to 100km/h (62mph) in 2020 by the Dutch courts in order to reduce pollution. The new speed limit is enforce between 06:00 to 19:00. Bewteen 19:00 and 06:00 the speed limit is 120km/h

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Speed Limits Per Country

CountryRegionHighwayRuralUrbanSpeedUnit
AlbaniaRest of Europe90-1108040kph
AlgeriaAfrica1208050kph
AndorraRest of EuropeNA9050kph
AngolaAfrica12010060kph
AnguillaCaribbeanN/A3020MPH
AntiguaCaribbeann/a4020mph
ArgentinaSouth America120-13011040-60kph
ArubaCaribbean806030kph
AustraliaOceania100-13010050kph
AustriaEurope13010050kph
AzerbaijanRest of Europe1109060kph
BahamasCaribbeann/a8032kph
BahrainMiddle East1206080-100kph
BangladeshSouth Asia803025KPH
BarbadosCaribbean503720mph
BelarusRest of Europe1209060kph
BelgiumEurope1209020-30kph
BelizeCentral America906040kph
BoliviaSouth America807050kph
BonaireCaribbeann/a6040kph
Bosnia and HerzegovinaRest of Europe1208060kph
BotswanaAfrica12060-10030kph
BrazilSouth America80-11060-8030 - 60kph
BulgariaEurope1409050kph
CambodiaSoutheast Asia1208040kph
CameroonAfrica10010060kph
CanadaNorth America100-1208050kph
Canary IslandsEurope12010050kph
Cayman IslandsCaribbean804025-30MPH
ChileSouth America100-12010050kph
ChinaEast Asia80-12010040kph
ColombiaSouth America1008060kph
CongoAfrica11011069kph
Costa RicaCentral America80-1008040-60kph
CroatiaEurope110-1308050kph
CuracaoCaribbeann/a8050kph
CyprusEurope10060-8050kph
Czech RepublicEurope1309050kph
DenmarkEurope110-1308050kph
DominicaCaribbean805050kph
Dominican RepublicCaribbean1208040kph
EcuadorSouth America1109050kph
EgyptAfrica1009050kph
El SalvadorCentral America909050kph
EstoniaEurope1109050kph
Faroe IslandsEuropeN/A8050kph
FijiOceaniaN/A8050kph
FinlandEurope12080 or 10050kph
FranceEurope110-1308050kph
GabonAfrica11011060kph
GeorgiaEurope1108060KPH
GermanyEurope13010050kph
GhanaAfrica1008030-50KPH
GibraltarEuropeN/A5050kph
GreeceEurope110-13011050kph
GreenlandNorth America606040kph
GrenadaCaribbeanN/AN/AN/Akph
GuadeloupeCaribbean1108050kph
GuamOceanian/a3515-25mph
GuatemalaCentral America1108050kph
GuernseyRest of Europen/a3525mph
HaitiCaribbeanNA5050kph
HollandEurope1008050kph
HondurasCentral America808040kph
Hong KongEast Asia80-1107050kph
HungaryEurope110-1309050kph
IbizaEurope1209050kph
IbizaEurope1209050kph
IcelandEurope908050kph
IndiaSouth Asia100-1208050kph
IndonesiaSoutheast Asia1008050kph
IrelandEurope12010050kph
Isle Of ManRest of EuropeN/AN/AN/Amph
IsraelMiddle East11080-9050kph
ItalyEurope1309050kph
JamaicaCaribbean1108050kph
JapanEast Asia1008030-50kph
JerseyRest of Europen/a4040mph
JordanMiddle East1208060kph
KazakhstanAsia1109020-60kph
KenyaAfrica11011050kph
KosovoRest of Europe1308050kph
KuwaitMiddle East12050-8045kph
LanzaroteEurope1209050kph
LatviaEurope90-1009050kph
LebanonMiddle Eastn/a10050kph
LesothoAfrica1008050kph
LiechtensteinEurope1208050kph
LithuaniaEurope110-1309050kph
LuxembourgEurope1309050kph
MacedoniaRest of Europe1308050kph
MadagascarAfrican/a60-7050kph
MalawiAfrica1208060kph
MalaysiaSoutheast Asia1109060kph
MaliAfrica10010040-60kph
MallorcaEurope1208050kph
MallorcaEurope1209050kph
MaltaEuropen/a6050kph
MartiniqueCaribbean1109050kph
MauritiusAfrica1008040kph
MexicoNorth America100-1209030-70kph
MoldovaRest of Europe1108050kph
MontenegroRest of Europe1008050kph
MoroccoAfrica90-10010060kph
MozambiqueAfrica1208060kph
NamibiaAfrica12080-12060kph
NetherlandsEurope1008050kph
New CaledoniaOceania1105030kph
New ZealandOceania100-11010050kph
NicaraguaCentral America1006045kph
NigeriaAfrica1208040kph
Northern IrelandEurope706030mph
NorwayEurope90-1008050kph
OmanMiddle East1209040-80kph
PakistanSouth Asia1205080-100kph
PanamaCentral American/a8050kph
Papua New GuineaOceania757560kph
ParaguaySouth America1105080kph
PeruSouth America1009050kph
PhilippinesSoutheast Asia1005030kph
PolandEurope120-1409050kph
PortugalEurope1209050kph
Puerto RicoCaribbean55-654525mph
QatarMiddle East12010060kph
ReunionCaribbean1109050kph
RomaniaEurope1309050kph
RussiaRest of Europe11090-11060kph
Saint LuciaCaribbeanNA8050kph
SamoaOceania555540kph
Saudi ArabiaMiddle East120-1258045kph
ScotlandEurope706030mph
SenegalAfrican/a9050kph
SerbiaRest of Europe100-1208050kph
SeychellesAfrica806540kph
SicilyEurope110-1309050kph
SingaporeSoutheast Asia907050kph
SlovakiaEurope90-1309050kph
SloveniaEurope110-1309050kph
South AfricaAfrica12010060kph
South KoreaEast Asia80-1208060kph
SpainEurope1209050kph
Sri LankaSouth Asia1007050kph
St LuciaCaribbeann/a8050kph
St MaartenCaribbean806040kph
St Vincent and the GrenadinesCaribbeann/aVariable32kph
SwazilandAfrica1208060kph
SwedenEurope110-1209050kph
SwitzerlandEurope100-1205030kph
SyriaMiddle East10010040kph
TaiwanEast Asia100-1108040kph
TanzaniaAfrica808060kph
TasmaniaAustralasia11010050kph
TenerifeEurope12010050kph
TenerifeEurope1209050kph
ThailandSoutheast Asia1209050kph
TogoAfrica1105030kph
Trinidad and TobagoCaribbean1108055kph
TunisiaAfrica1109050kph
TurkeyRest of Europe1209050kph
UAEMiddle East100-14012080kph
UgandaAfrica1008050kph
UKEurope706030mph
EnglandEurope706030mph
UkraineRest of Europe110-1309050kph
UruguaySouth America90-1109045kph
USANorth America97-129variablevariablemph
VanuatuOceaniaN/A8050km/h
VenezuelaSouth America1208060kph
VietnamSoutheast Asia60-8040-6030-40kph
WalesEurope50-706030mph
YemenMiddle East10010035kph
ZambiaAfrica10010050-60kph
ZimbabweAfrica12012060kph

World Driving Guides

Visitor Comments

  • 16/07/2021

    Martin Vlietstra

    The abbreviation "kph" is an irregular shorthand introduced by the British press. The correct symbol for "kilometres per hour" is "km/h", a symbol that applies for all languages, regardless of how "kilometres per hour" is written in that language - it Italian for example, "kilometres per hour" is written "chilometri all'ora,", but Italian speedometers have the text "km/h" (as do Irish, Canadian and Australian speedometers). The International Organisation for Standardization uses "km/h" (https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:80000:-1:ed-1:v1:en (Section 3.11)) as does BIPM (the custodians of SI) - See https://www.bipm.org/documents/20126/41483022/SI-Brochure-9-EN.pdf.
  • 23/07/2020

    Staffis

    The maximum speed you can drive in sweden is 120 kph on some highways, usually 110, not 90
  • 06/08/2020

    Peter

    Uhm... the max speed limit in Sweden is 120 km/h, not 90. ("Standard" roads with no middle barrier are often 90, though.) I think we used to have 130 on some sparsely trafficked roads up north but nowadays it's max 120.
  • 30/01/2020

    Jesse Wolters

    The Netherlands recently changed its speed limit to just 100 km.
  • 01/12/2019

    Sash

    The US is also in MPH. The fastest limit is 85 in Texas and the slowest is it 60 MPH in Hawaii. Thx.
  • 24/07/2019

    Zuzana Ninneman

    Blah All of the states west of the Mississippi River are 75+mph except WA, CA and OR. Texas has areas with no speed limit.
  • 27/01/2019

    blah

    Where in the US is the speed limit over 70mph .... or 112kph in this site ... I have been from FL to Maine to Seattle to Arizona and back to FL ... never seen anything over 70mph.
  • 24/10/2018

    Saleem Ahmad

    Why not Pakistan in the list which has 90 to 120 kph speed
  • 24/10/2018

    H.G.Wells

    Speed limit in Brazil is 110-120 km/h, not 130
  • 24/10/2018

    Admin

    Great suggestion Saleem, we've updated accordingly.
  • 24/10/2018

    James C. Walker

    Motorways in most countries have or would have 85th percentile speeds of 120 kph to 150 kph. ALL should be posted that way. James C. Walker, National Motorists Association, Ann Arbor Michigan USA
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