Respondents reported an average commute of 29.2 minutes, just over the global average of 29. Only 13 percent of Hong Kongers have to travel over three-quarters of an hour each way, placing the territory ahead of almost every country surveyed including mainland China (39 percent), Japan (38 percent), UK (25 percent), Singapore (19 percent) and US (14 percent), the exceptions being Canada and Spain (both 11 percent).

No business wants employees turning up to work already exhausted and stressed out, unable to function properly during the working day. The findings of the Regus survey help to identify the major causes of commuting stress amongst users of public transport and drivers.

"Service interruptions and traffic jams are of concern to users of public transport and drivers alike, hence their top billing," said Hans Leijten, Regus' regional vice president for East Asia. "The mobile phone pest also evidently remains with us, with offenders not realizing -- or caring -- that they are ruining many people's day right from the start. And the insidious power of bad smells to get the day off to a poor start cannot be underestimated."