2023's most powerful passports

Henley Passport Index ranks passport by their capacity for visa-free travel

For the past five years, Japan has occupied the top position in the Henley Passport Index, which measures global travel freedom in terms of how much visa-free and visa-on-demand access to the world citizens of each nation enjoy.

However, this year Japan has moved down into third place and the new top-ranked passport is Singapore, whose citizens can visit 193 destinations out of 227 around the world, visa-free.

Singapore has been busy securing greater travel freedom for its citizens over the past decade, gaining visa-free access to 25 new destinations.

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The ranking by the London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm showed that Europe is bouncing back despite the list being dominated by Asian countries in the past. 

Germany, Italy and Spain have all moved up into second place with visa-free access to 190 destinations, while Japan and South Korea are joined in the number three slot by Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg and Sweden.

At the other end of the scale, the worst passports to hold Afghanistan with access to 27 destinations without a prior visa, just below Iraq, with access to 29 destinations, and Syria, with access to 30.

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The most powerful passports for visa-free travel in 2023:

1. Singapore (192 destinations)
2. Germany, Italy, Spain (190 destinations)
3. Austria, Finland, France, Japan, Luxembourg, South Korea, Sweden (189)
4. Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, UK (188 destinations)
5. Belgium, Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland (187 destinations)
6. Australia, Hungary, Poland (186 destinations)
7. Canada, Greece (185 destinations)
8. Lithuania, United States (184 destinations)
9. Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (183 destinations)
10. Estonia, Iceland (182 destinations)

Commenting on the ranking, Henley & Partners chairman Cristian H Kaelin said: “The UAE has added an impressive 107 destinations to its visa-free score since 2013,” he says. “Of the countries sitting in the top 10, the US has seen the smallest increase in its score, securing just 12 additional destinations.”

Henley & Partner’s list is one of several indexes created by financial firms to rank global passports according to the access they provide to their citizens and is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and ranks 199 passports worldwide. It’s updated in real time throughout the year, as and when visa policy changes come into effect.

For more information, visit www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index