Doha, Qatar: There are some major shake-ups in the World's Passport Power Ranking of Henley Passport Index, released on Tuesday, with Singapore replacing Japan as the world's most powerful passport.
Japan for the first time in five years has been knocked off the top spot and bumped into third place as the number of places the passport has access to without visa fell to 189 destinations.
Based on the latest edition of the ranking, Singapore passport holders now have access to visit 192 global destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. Germany, Spain and Italy all moved to second spot with access to 190 countries while Japan shares the third place with six other countries, namely Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden.
The US, that once topped the ranking nearly a decade ago, saw the smallest increase in its score over the past decade slid two places to eighth place while the UK, after a Brexit-induced slump, jumped two places to fourth, a position it last held in 2017.
Meanwhile, Qatar which was ranked 55th in the the previous report released in January 2023, has moved to 52nd place with access to 103 visa-free destinations. The country has been ranked 42nd in the Henley Openness Index, which ranks the number of nationalities it allows to cross its borders without a prior visa.
The Top 5 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, and the Top 5 with the smallest discrepancy between their access and their openness are Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong (SAR China), and Barbados.
The rankings are based on data from the International Air Transport Association.
Here are the World's Top 10 Most Powerful Passports:
Rank - Country (Visa-free access)
1 - Singapore (192)
2 - Germany, Spain, Italy (190)
3 - Austria, Finland, France, Japan, Luxembourg, South Korea, Sweden (189)
4 - Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom (188)
5 - Belgium, Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland (187)
6 - Australia, Hungary, Poland (186)
7 - Canada, Greece (185)
8 - United States, Lithuania (184)
9 - Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia (183)
10 - Estonia, Iceland (182)
