The most powerful passports in the world for 2023

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Shaking and scrambling to the top of the 2023 World Passport Rankings just got a lot more interesting.

For five long years, Japan was ranked number one in the world Henley Passport Indexwhich measures global travel freedom in terms of the amount of visa-free and visa-on-demand access to the world enjoyed by various citizens.

But in the summer of 2023, Japan has fallen to third place and the new title holder is Singapore, whose citizens can visit 193 out of 227 destinations worldwide without a visa.

And while Asia has long dominated the top spot in the index created by London-based global citizenship and residency advisory firm Henley & Partners, Europe is bouncing back. Germany, Italy and Spain moved up to second place with visa-free access to 190 destinations, while Japan and South Korea are joined in third place by Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg and Sweden. Citizens of those Magnificent Seven have access to 189 destinations without the need for a prior visa.

Both the US and UK have been on a downward trajectory since the halcyon days when they jointly held the top spot all the way back in 2014, but the UK, at least, appears to be working to turn things around. It jumped to fourth place in the ranking, a position it has not held since 2017. Meanwhile, the United States dropped two more places to eight places, with access to 183 visa-free destinations.

The Henley Passport Index is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and ranks 199 passports around the world. It is updated in real time throughout the year, when visa policy changes take effect.

In its latest edition, Henley & Partners notes that over the rating’s 18-year history, the average number of destinations travelers can access without a visa has nearly doubled, from 58 in 2006 to 109.

However, the travel freedom gap between those at the top and bottom of the ranking is wider than ever. Nationals of Afghanistan can only visit 27 destinations without a prior visa, just below Iraq (with 29 destinations) and Syria (with 30 destinations).

Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners, points out that Singapore has been busy securing greater travel freedom for its citizens over the past decade, gaining visa-free access to 25 new destinations.

“The UAE has added an impressive 107 destinations to its visa-free tier since 2013,” he says. “Of the 10th-ranked countries, the United States experienced the least increase in its score, securing only 12 additional destinations.”

Greg Lindsay, of the Jacobs Institute at Cornell Tech, says in the Henley & Partners edition, “The story is simple – by standing up somewhat, the US has fallen behind. America’s relentless slide down the rankings is a warning to its neighbor Canada and the rest of the Anglosphere too.” .

The Henley & Partner List is one of several indexes created by financial companies to rank global passports according to the accessibility they provide to their citizens.

Arton Capital Passport index It takes into account the passports of 193 UN member states and six territories – Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Kosovo, the Palestinian Territories and the Vatican. Regions annexed to other countries are excluded.

It is also updated in real time throughout the year, but its data is collected by carefully monitoring the portals of individual governments. It’s a tool “for people who travel, to provide accurate, accessible information for their travel needs,” Armand Arton, founder of Arton Capital, told CNN last year.

Arton’s Global Passport Power Rank 2023 puts the United Arab Emirates first, with a score of 180 for visa-free/visa-on-arrival.

As for the second place, it was occupied by 11 countries, mostly in Europe: Germany, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, and South Korea.

The UK ranks third, along with Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Norway, Poland, Ireland and New Zealand. The United States and Japan are in fourth place.

1. Singapore (192 destinations)

2. Germany, Italy and Spain (190 destinations)

3. Austria, Finland, France, Japan, Luxembourg, South Korea and Sweden (189)

4. Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom (188 destinations)

5. Belgium, Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland (187 destinations)

6- Australia, Hungary, Poland (186 destinations)

7. Canada, Greece (185 destinations)

8. Lithuania, United States (184 destinations)

9. Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia (183 destinations)

10. Estonia, Iceland (182 destinations)

Three countries around the world have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 30 countries or less. here they are:

101- Syria (30 destinations)

102- Iraq (29 destinations)

103- Afghanistan (27 destinations)