According to a new quarterly report from London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners, three Asian passports give their holders more freedom to travel internationally than those from any other nations.
Japan now offers its citizens visa-free or visa-on-demand access to a record 193 locations worldwide, surpassing the previous record of 192 held by Singapore and South Korea.
And with Asia-Pacific opening up following Covid, its people are more likely to use that freedom to travel once more.
However, Asian citizens are currently less likely to be taking advantage of that freedom to travel than those in Europe or the Americas due to the region’s more circumspect response to COVID-19.
Numerous European nations are positioned close to the top of the leaderboard below the top three Asian nations.
Finland, Italy, and Luxembourg are next on 189 destinations, followed by Germany and Spain, who are tied for 190.
Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden are tied for fifth place, followed by France, Ireland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, which is ranked sixth overall.
The United States, New Zealand, and Belgium all make an appearance at No. 7, along with Switzerland, Norway, and Belgium.
Afghan nationals remain at the bottom of the index once more and are only permitted entry into 27 nations without a prior visa.
Various Indexes
The indexes developed by financial companies to rank international passports according to the access they give to their citizens include Henley & Partner’s list.
199 passports are ranked by the Henley Passport Index based on how many places their owners can visit without a visa. Throughout the year, as and when changes to the visa policy take effect, it is updated in real-time.
The 193 United Nations member nations and six territories are included in Arton Capital’s Passport Index: ROC Taiwan, Macau (SAR China), Hong Kong (SAR China), Kosovo, the Palestinian Territory, and the Vatican.
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Excluded are areas that other nations have annexed.
Throughout the year, it is also updated in real-time, but the information is gathered by closely watching the portals of various governments.
According to Armand Arton, founder of Arton Capital, it’s a tool “for people who travel, to provide accurate, simple-to-access information for their travel needs.”
The United Arab Emirates is ranked first in Arton’s Global Passport Power Rank 2023, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 181.
Eleven nations, the majority of which are in Europe, are tied for second place: Germany, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, and South Korea.
Along with Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Norway, Poland, Ireland, and New Zealand, the US and the UK are ranked third.
2020’s ideal passports to possess are:
- Japan (193 destinations)
- South Korea and Singapore (192 destinations)
- Spain and Germany (190 destinations)
- Finland, Luxembourg, and Italy (189 destinations)
- Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden (188 destinations)
- Portugal, France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom (187 destinations)
- Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States (186 destinations)
- Greece, Malta, Czech Republic, Australia, Canada (185 destinations)
9. Hungary (183 destinations)
- Slovakia, Poland, and Lithuania (182 destinations)
Worst passports to possess
There are several nations with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 40 or fewer nations.
These consist of:
North Korea (105). (40 destinations)
Nepal, the Palestinian territories (38 destinations)
Somalia (107). (35 destinations)
- Yemen (34 destinations) (34 destinations)
Pakistan 109 (32 destinations)
- Syria (30 destinations)
- Iraq (29 destinations) (29 destinations)
112. Afghanistan (27 destinations)
