World's most powerful passports Q3 2023

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Japan, which ranked first for five consecutive years, now stands in third place, alongside Finland, South Korea, and Sweden, and more.

According to the Henley Passport Index, Singapore now officially has the most powerful passport in the world, with its citizens able to visit 192 out of 227 travel destinations around the world visa-free.

Previously in the top spot for five consecutive years, Japan has fallen to third place on the ranking, which is based on official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), released on Tuesday (18 July 2023).

The data further revealed the rankings for the following markets:

• Malaysia
  • Rank: 11^th
  • Visa-free score: 180
• Hong Kong
  • Rank: 17^th
  • Visa-free score: 170
• Macao
  • Rank: 31^st
  • Visa-free score: 144
• Taiwan
  • Rank: 31^st
  • Visa-free score: 144
• China
  • Rank: 63^rd
  • Visa-free score: 80
• Thailand
  
  • Rank: 64^th
  • Visa-free score: 79
• Indonesia
  • Rank: 69^th
  • Visa-free score: 73
• India
  • Rank: 80^th
  • Visa-free score: 57
• Vietnam
  • Rank: 82^nd
  • Visa-free score: 55

From a global viewpoint, the UK jumped up the ranks after a six-year decline, moving up two places on the latest ranking to fourth place, a position it last held in 2017. In contrast, the US continues its now decade-long fall down the index, plummeting a further two places to eighth spot with access to just 184 destinations visa-free. In 2014, both the UK and the US jointly held first place on the index.

At the bottom of the ranking, Afghanistan keeps its spot with a visa-free access score of 27, followed by Iraq (29), and Syria (30) — the three weakest passports in the world.

Overall, the general trend over the past 18 years has been towards greater travel freedom, with the average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023. However, the global mobility gap is now wider than ever, with top-ranked Singapore able to access 165 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan.

In a press release announcing the index launch, Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman, Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, said only eight countries worldwide have less visa-free access today than they did a decade ago while others have been more successful in securing greater travel freedom for their citizens.

He added: "The UAE has added an impressive 107 destinations to its visa-free score since 2013, resulting in a massive leap of 44 places in the ranking over the past 10 years from 56^th to 12^th position. This is almost double the next biggest climber, Colombia, which has enjoyed a jump of 28 places in the ranking to sit in 37^th spot. Ukraine and China are also among the top 10 countries with the most improved rankings over the past decade. Far more than just a travel document that defines our freedom of movement, a strong passport also provides significant financial freedoms in terms of international investment and business opportunities.

"Global connectivity and access have become indispensable features of wealth creation and preservation, and its value will only grow as geopolitical volatility and regional instability increase."

Relationship between openness and visa free access

Henley & Partners has conducted exclusive new research into the relationship between a country’s openness to foreigners, more specifically, the link between how many nations a country allows to cross its borders visa-free, and its own citizens’ travel freedom. The new Henley Openness Index 2023 ranks all 199 countries worldwide according to the number of nationalities they permit entry to without a prior visa.

The five countries with the biggest (negative) difference between their own visa-free access and their openness to other nations are Somalia, Sri Lanka, Djibouti, Burundi, and Nepal, while the five with the smallest discrepancy between their access and their openness are Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Barbados.

Lead image / Shutterstock