The three most powerful passports in the world are all Asian, according to the 2023 Henley Passport Index. It ranks all of the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without obtaining a visa in advance.
Japan has the world’s most powerful passport for the 5th year in a row. Holders can visit 193 out of 227 global destinations visa-free.
South Korea and Singapore are tied in 2nd place on the index, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 192. Germany and Spain are joint 3rd, with visa-free access to 190 destinations.
The UK and the US remain in 6th and 7th places, with scores of 187 and 186. They jointly held the top slot in 2014, but the Henley rankings say it appears unlikely that either will ever reach 1st place again. The UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
Passport to economic opportunity
The Henley Passport Index is put together by immigration consultancy firm Henley & Partners. It has also combined its passport index data with World Bank GDP figures to create the Henley Passport Power score, which indicates “the percentage of global GDP each passport provides to its holders’ visa-free”.
This can be a valuable tool for business travellers, investors and anyone planning to emigrate. But it also sheds light on “the ever-widening economic inequality and wealth disparity that has come to define our world”, says Henley & Partners Chairman Dr Christian Kaelin. He invented the passport index nearly 20 years ago, based on data from the International Air Transport Association.
Nigerian passport holders, for example, can access only 46 destinations visa-free (20% of the world), with these countries accounting for just 1.5% of global GDP. The lowest-ranking entry in the Henley Passport Power score is the Afghan passport, which provides visa-free access to only 27 countries and less than 1% of global economic output.
That is 166 fewer visa-free destinations than Japan – the widest mobility gap in the index’s 18-year history. This means that citizens of the index’s lowest-ranking countries – including Iraq (visa-free score of 29) and Syria (visa-free score of 30) – are being shut out of many opportunities for economic mobility and growth, the report says.
The most powerful passports in the world in 2023
1. Japan (193 destinations)
2. Singapore, South Korea (192 destinations)
3. Germany, Spain (190 destinations)
4. Finland, Italy, Luxembourg (189 destinations)
5. Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden (188 destinations)
6. France, Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom (187 destinations)
7. Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States, Czech Republic (186 destinations)
8. Australia, Canada, Greece, Malta (185 destinations)
9. Hungary, Poland (184 destinations)
10. Lithuania, Slovakia (183 destinations)
