Global Passport Ranking : The Most (And Least) Powerful Passports in The World as of 2020

A powerful passport is a travel document that opens many doors to travel around the world. Based on the Henley Passport Index, the main outcome of the 2020 passport power ranking is the rapid Asian passports growth, especially Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.

The passport and the regional travel are the representation of the progress of diplomatic and economic relations as well as the status of the sovereign state. The top three countries show that Japanese, Singaporean and South Korean hold an important role in global trade, economics, and politics. How is this progress compared to other countries?

The Top Ten Countries with Powerful Passport

list of top 10 most powerful passports

As mentioned before, Asian dominates the top rank and Japan is getting the top spot on the leaderboard. Japan even offers access for visa-free or visa on arrival for 191 destinations worldwide. Compared to Asia, European countries sit in the rest of the top ten such as Spain and Finland. Here is the complete top-ten rank of the passport power countries:

  • Japan (191 destinations)
  • Singapore (190 destinations)
  • South Korea and Germany (180 destinations)
  • Italy and Finland (188 destinations)
  • Spain, Luxembourg, Denmark (187 destinations)
  • Sweden, France (186 destinations)
  • Switzerland, Netherlands, Portugal, Ireland, Austria (185 destinations)
  • United States, Norway, United Kingdom, Greece, Belgium (184 destinations)
  • Malta, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Australia, Canada (183 destinations)
  • Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary (181 destinations)

Countries With The Least Powerful Passports to Hold

list of top 8 least powerful passports

The index of Henley Passport also shows the fact that the worst passports of the countries in the world. They have access to visa-free or visa on arrival fewer than 40 countries. What countries are they? Here are the data:

  • Sudan, North Korea (39 destinations)
  • Palestinian Territory, Nepal (38 destinations)
  • Libya (37 destinations)
  • Yemen (33 destinations)
  • Pakistan, Somalia (32 destinations)
  • Syria (29 destinations)
  • Iraq (28 destinations)
  • Afghanistan (26 destinations)

Also Read : How Do You Know If Your Passport Has Been Rejected?


Other Indexes

1. UAE (United Arab Emirates)

UAE PAssports

Outside the data above, actually, the winner is UAE (United Arab Emirates).  It has jumped 47 places over the past ten years. It still sits in the 18th position with a score of 171. From this fact, we can say that the UAE countries have a positive global business powerhouse, business centers and internationalization. It also deals with the travel freedom of their citizens who enjoy the increasingly powerful passport. The data reported that there is the widest plummet growing of travel freedom since the index inception in 2006.

2. UK (United Kingdom)

UK Passports

The UK, unfortunately, go down the rankings. The downward of the UK is caused by post-Brexit Britain and Northern Ireland. The migration observer states that the Conservative government of the UK promised to use an Australian style for the points-based system. It is considered to be more liberal than the current policies for the non-Europe citizens although it is still a bit restrictive than the free movement.

If the big migration policy happens, the changes will affect the actual level of mobility in spite of its uncertain prediction. The data shows that Europe’s migration to the UK dropped by 59% from 2015 to 2018. Many European are doubtful to settle in the UK due to the threat of Brexit.

3. Ireland

Ireland passport

Ireland sits on number 7 on the rank. It breaks the record in issuing the Irish passports in 2019. It reaches 900,000 passports! This happens because of the stable rise of the passport applicants from the British citizens since the Brexit vote in 2016.

That’s the index explanation based on Henley Passport. The lucky Japanese passport holder will surely experience travel and business freedom worldwide. Fly everywhere for freedom with Airpaz flights and tickets. Don’t bother flying to several destinations because you can schedule the flights on the online website of Airpaz. Many more features you can enjoy there.

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