World’s Most Powerful Passports:Japan Loses Top Spot

For the first time in five years, Japan has lost its number one ranking, dropping to third place on the list. Singapore can now call itself the country with the most powerful passport in the world, according to the latest ranking. Its citizens can now enjoy visa-free visits to 192 of the 227 destinations Henley surveys.

Singapore isn’t the only country on the rise. With Japan dropping to third, it falls behind three European countries in second place: Germany, Italy and Spain, who all have visa-free access to 190 destinations.

Japan joins six other nations in third place with 189 destinations listed as visa-free: Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Sweden and South Korea.

Singapore citizens now enjoy the most powerful

Somewhat surprisingly, the U.K. appears to have turned a corner and is climbing its way back up the Henley ranking after six years of decline. Finding itself in fourth place with 188 visa-free countries accessible, this result is the highest it's been since 2017.

The U.S. however has seen no such turnaround and continues its slide down the index, this year ranking eighth with 184 destinations listed as visa free, the same as Lithuania. Bear in mind that a decade ago, the U.S. and U.K. were sitting pretty at the top of the Henley Index. The downturn only goes to show the impact that geopolitical changes are having around the world.

Still entrenched at the bottom of the ranking is Afghanistan, whose passport holders can visit just 27 destinations without a visa. Just above sit Iraq with a score of 29 and Syria with 30, rounding out the three weakest passports in the world.

Looking at the general trend over the Henley Index’s 18 year history, the average number of destinations open to visa-free access has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023. Despite this, the global mobility gap between top and bottom ranked countries is bigger than it's ever been – Singapore passport holders can visit 166 more destinations without a visa than those with an Afghanistan passport.

American passport continues to lose international power

Somewhat surprisingly, the U.K. appears to have turned a corner and is climbing its way back up the Henley ranking after six years of decline. Finding itself in fourth place with 188 visa-free countries accessible, this result is the highest it's been since 2017.

Only eight countries have less visa-free access to destinations than they did a decade ago, demonstrating how countries are opening up more and more to give their citizens more freedom to travel. The UAE has added 107 visa-free destinations, climbing 44 places up the ranking. Singapore has added 25, which has pushed it up to the top spot. The U.S. however has added just 12 new destinations, the lowest increase in the top ten.

Looking at the ranking, Greg Lindsay from Cornell Tech’s Jacobs Institute, says that from a purely mechanical perspective, “the story is a simple one — by more or less standing still, the U.S. has fallen behind. While its absolute score has in fact risen over the last decade, the U.S. has been steadily overtaken by rivals such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore. America’s relentless slide down the rankings is a warning to its neighbor Canada and the rest of the Anglosphere as well.”

Openness Index shows huge disparity between richer and poorer nations

Alongside the passport index, the Henley Openness Index paints a damning picture of America’s approach to welcoming in citizens from developing nations. While U.S. passport holders can visit 184 countries without a visa, the U.S. itself allows only 44 other countries to visit visa free, placing it 78th on the Henley Openness Index.

Only Australia has a greater disparity although Canada isn’t far behind, alongside New Zealand and Japan. Interestingly, all five of these countries have remained static or dropped down the passport power ranking over the last decade.

The top 20 most open countries on the index are all African states or small island nations (with the exception of Cambodia) including tourist hotspots the Seychelles and Maldives. Twelve of these countries are open to all passports, asking none for a visa, or allowing visitors to collect one on arrival. Conversely, just four countries have a zero openness rating and don’t let anyone visit without a visa – Afghanistan, North Korea, Papua New Guinea and Turkmenistan.

Leading sociologist at Tel Aviv University, Prof. Dr. Yossi Harpaz, says the data clearly shows that the relationship between travel freedom (the passport ranking) and openness is complex and non-linear. “Nations’ diplomatic and socio-economic realities and strategic goals significantly impact these factors, resulting in a complex web of interrelations. As the global landscape continues to change, so will these patterns, reflecting the dynamic nature of global mobility.”

Greg Lindsay from Cornell Tech goes on to explain that while the correlation between a high openness score and high visa-free access score isn’t very obvious in the data, “It is notable that Singapore and South Korea — high climbers on the Henley Passport Index over last decade, moving up from sixth and seventh respectively in 2013 to first and third today — boast relatively high degrees of openness, while the US and Canada have slid down the top 10 rankings as their openness stagnates.”

Here’s the newly updated top ten ranking (now featuring 34 countries!) for the world’s most powerful passports in 2023:

1. Singapore: 192

2. Germany: 190

2. Italy: 190

2. Spain: 190

3. Austria: 189

3. Finland: 189

3. France: 189

3. Japan: 189

3. Luxembourg: 189

3. South Korea: 189

3. Sweden: 189

4. Denmark: 188

4. Ireland: 188

4. Netherlands: 188

4. United Kingdom: 188

5. Belgium: 187

5. Czech Republic: 187

5. Malta: 187

5. New Zealand: 187

5. Norway: 187

5. Portugal: 187

5. Switzerland: 187

6. Australia: 186

6. Hungary: 186

6. Poland: 186

7. Canada: 185

7. Greece: 185

8. Lithuania: 184

8. United States: 184

9. Latvia: 183

9. Slovakia: 183

9. Slovenia: 183

10. Estonia: 182

10. Iceland: 182

Or you can explore in detail the full ranking.

Source: by Duncan Madden, https://www.forbes.com/sites/duncanmadden/2023/07/18/worlds-most-powerful-passports-japan-loses-top-spot-in-henley-ranking/amp/; https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index/ranking

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