The latest edition of the Henley Passport Index reveals that Japan’s citizens now hold the most powerful passport in the world, overtaking Singapore, Germany, the UK and the US.
The last time BBTreported on the index, Germans enjoyed visa-free access to the highest number of countries at 177. Singapore came in second and Japan tied for third place with Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the UK.
Japan’s passport has now surpassed all of those countries, with visa-free access to 189 destinations. Germany is now tied with Singapore for second place at 188 countries, while third place is held by South Korea, Finland, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden.
The UK has fallen into fourth place along with Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal, while the US has climbed one place to join them.
The United Arab Emirates has risen 38 places in the last ten years to 23rd place, making it the fastest climber included in the index, which is based on exclusive data from IATA.
Meanwhile, Russia has fallen from 45th to 47th despite waiving visa requirements for football fans travelling to watch the FIFA World Cup, and China has climbed from 74th to 68th since the first quarter after gaining visa-free access to the UAE, Oman and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dr Christian H Kalin, group chairman of Henley & Partners, commented: “The Henley Passport Index is innovating the way we map and measure travel freedom, making it easier for individuals to understand where exactly they lie on the spectrum of global mobility.”
henleypassportindex.com/passport