World’s Most Powerful Passport 2021: How Good is Your Passport

The pandemic has wreaked havoc in the travel industry across the globe. Travel restrictions and entry barriers imposed by each country have caused the widest global mobility gap and broadened the inequalities between north and south hemispheres according to residence and citizenship planning firm Henley & Partners.

Based on data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Henley & Partners has been regularly monitoring the world's most travel-friendly passports since 2006. It has ranked all passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

Europe, with Germany at the top, dominates this year’s list of the world’s most powerful passports. A German passport is permitting its holder to visit a total of 190 destinations without acquiring a visa in advance, the recent report of the Henley Passport Index has revealed.

However, the German passport is not the most powerful in the world. The first spot is occupied by Japan and Singapore which makes the German passport, world’s third most powerful.

Global Passport Ranking

Besides Germany, other European countries have also been ranked in the top ten positions while their passports give visa-free access to a large number of countries.

European countries, such as Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Spain share third place, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 189.

Two other European countries, Austria and Denmark, have been ranked in fourth place, while their travellers are permitted to visit a total of 188 countries worldwide visa-free.

At the same time, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden share the fifth position with their passports giving visa-free access to 187 countries.

According to the Henley Passport Index, Belgium and Switzerland passports have visa-free, visa-on-arrival scores of 186, therefore are placed in sixth place.

The following countries share seventh place, while their passports give visa-free access to a total of 185 destinations.

Czech Republic
Greece
Malta
Norway
United Kingdom
United States

Australia and Canada are in eighth place with 184 countries while Hungarian passports permit its citizens to travel to a total of 183 destinations, therefore ranking in ninth place.

At the same time, passports of the following countries have a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 182, therefore are ranked in the tenth position.

Lithuania
Poland
Slovakia

*The Henley Passport Index: Q4 2021 Global Ranking (source: Henley Global)*

Here are the top 10 ranking of the world’s most powerful passports:

Japan, Singapore (visa-free score – 192)
Germany, South Korea (visa-free score – 190)
Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain (visa-free score – 189)
Austria, Denmark (visa-free score – 188)
France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden (visa-free score – 187)
Belgium, New Zealand, Switzerland (visa-free score – 186)
Czech Republic, Greece, Malta, Norway, United Kingdom, United States (visa-free score – 185)
Australia, Canada (visa-free score – 184)
Hungary (visa-free score – 183)
Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia (visa-free score – 182)

To check where your passports sit in the global ranking, visit Henley and Passport website.

Global Comparison

Henley and Partners revealed that countries with the most powerful passports kept in place the strictest entry restrictions in order to stop the further spread of the Coronavirus, while those whose passports give access to a lower number of destinations have not introduced such preventive measures while keeping in place milder entry requirements.

In comparison with the countries at the top, passport holders from Afghanistan, at the bottom of the list, can access 166 fewer destinations with only 26 countries to enter without requiring a visa.

The contrasts between the countries at the top and those at the bottom have never been wider and the global situation around measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t trending toward closing the enormous gap.

Do you need to renew your passport? Talk to us in the comment section below. Or if you need more advice on the above, contact us for further travel & immigration advice.

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