The ranking of the most powerful passports in the world in 2023

The swings in the world passport rankings for 2023 just got a little more interesting. The complete list has been released CNN.

Photo: IStock

For five long years, Japan has been at the top of the rankings. Henley Passport Index, which measures global freedom of movement in terms of whether or not visas are required to access other countries for different citizens.

But by the summer of 2023, Japan had moved to third place, and Singapore became the new holder of the title, citizens of which can visit 193 of 227 destinations around the world without a visa.

While Asia has long dominated the top of the Henley Passport Index compiled by London-based global citizenship and residency consulting firm Henley & Partners, Europe has now taken the lead. Germany, Italy and Spain climbed to second place with visa-free access to 190 destinations, while Japan and South Korea joined Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg and Sweden at No. 3. Citizens of this magnificent seven have access to 189 destinations without a prior visa.

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The United States and the UK have been on a downward trajectory since those serene days when they held the top spot together in 2014. But at least the UK appears to be turning things around. She made a meteoric two-place jump to 4th in the rankings, a position she hasn't held since 2017. The US, meanwhile, dropped two more spots to eighth, with access to just 183 visa-free destinations.

The Henley Passport Index is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and ranks 199 passports worldwide. It is updated in real time throughout the year as changes to the visa policy come into effect.

In its latest issue, Henley & Partners notes that over the 18-year history of the ranking, the average number of destinations travelers can visit without a visa has nearly doubled, from 58 in 2006 to 109.

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However, the gap in freedom of movement between those at the top and bottom of the rankings is larger than ever. Afghan citizens can only visit 27 destinations without a prior visa, just below Iraq (with 29 destinations) and Syria (with 30).

Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of the Board of Henley & Partners, notes that over the past decade, Singapore has been busy providing greater freedom of movement for its citizens, gaining visa-free access to 25 new destinations.

“Since 2013, the UAE has added an impressive 107 destinations to its visa-free account,” she says. “Of the countries in the top ten, the United States showed the smallest increase in its ranking, gaining only 12 additional destinations.”

“The story is simple - more or less standing still, the United States has fallen behind. America's inexorable slide down the rankings is a warning to its neighbor Canada, as well as the rest of the Anglosphere,” said Greg Lindsay of Cornell Tech's Jacobs Institute.

Rating of passports of post-Soviet countries

• Lithuaniaa: 8th place in the ranking, 184 countries that do not need a visa.
• Latvia: 9th place in the ranking, 183 countries that do not need a visa.
• Estonia: 10th place in the ranking, 182 countries that do not need a visa.
• Ukraine: 30th place in the ranking, 146 countries that do not need a visa.
• Moldova: 46th place in the ranking, 121 countries that do not need a visa.
• Georgia: 48th place in the ranking, 117 countries that do not need a visa.
• Russia: 49th place in the ranking, 115 countries that do not need a visa.
• Belarus: 64th place in the ranking, 79 countries that do not need a visa.
• Kazakhstan: 66th place in the ranking, 77 countries that do not need a visa.
• Azerbaijan: 72th place in the ranking, 69 countries that do not need a visa.
• Armenia: 74th place in the ranking, 66 countries that do not need a visa.
• Kyrgyzstan: 76th place in the ranking, 63 countries that do not need a visa.
• Tajikistan: 78th place in the ranking, 59 countries that do not need a visa.
• Uzbekistan: 78th place in the ranking, 59 countries that do not need a visa.
• Turkmenistan: 87th place in the ranking, 50 countries that do not need a visa.

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