New Delhi: Japan, Singapore and South Korea have the most powerful passports as the world continues to recover from Covid-19, reversing pre-pandemic rankings that were dominated by European nations.
A Japanese passport provides hassle-free entry to 193 countries, one more than those from Singapore and South Korea, according to the latest Henley Passport Index from Henley & Partners, an immigration consultancy.
Russian travel documents are ranked 50th, giving easy access to 119 nations. China placed 69th with access to 80 countries, India’s passport ranked 87th and Afghanistan’s passport is the least useful, getting the holder into only 27 countries.
World’s most powerful passports 2022: Top 10 countries
- Japan
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Germany
- Spain
- Finland
- Italy
- Luxemburg
- Austria
- Denmark
The Henley Passport Index ranks 199 passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.
The lifting of ban on international travel has helped passports regain strengths. To contain the spread of covid-19, India had suspended international flights after the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in March, 2020. The ban was finally lifted after a period of two years in March 2022.
However passport holders with the greatest global access are currently the most restricted and reluctant to enjoy their travel freedom, showed the latest results from the Henley Passport Index, which is based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Despite the unmatched and unprecedented worldwide access afforded to the citizens of the three Asian nations ( Japan, Singapore and South Korea) over the index’s 17-year history, international passenger demand in the Asia-Pacific region has only reached 17% of pre-Covid levels, according to IATA’s latest statistics, having hovered below 10% for most of the past two years.
This figure is far behind the global trend where markets in Europe and North America have recovered to around 60% of pre-crisis travel mobility levels.
Throughout the turmoil of the past two years, one thing has remained constant: the growing strength of the UAE passport, which now sits at 15th place on the ranking, with a visa-free or visa-on-arrival score of 176. Over the past decade, the country has become the biggest climber on the index — in 2012, it sat at 64th place on the rankings, with a score of just 106. As the latest Henley Private Wealth Migration Dashboard demonstrates, the UAE has also become the focus of intense interest among affluent investors and is expected to see the highest net influx of HNWIs globally in 2022, with a forecast net increase of 4,000 — a dramatic increase of 208% versus 2019’s net inflow of 1,300 and one of its largest on record.
The worst passports to hold in July 2022
Several countries around the world have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 40 or fewer countries. These include:
105. North Korea (40 destinations)
106. Nepal, Palestinian territory (38 destinations)
107. Somalia (35 destinations)
108. Yemen (34 destinations)
109. Pakistan (32 destinations)
110. Syria (30 destinations)
111. Iraq (29 destinations)
112. Afghanistan (27 destinations)
