Global Passport Ranking: Up To Date

A passport is one of the most important documents that you must possess when you travel to a foreign country. To help international citizens understand the passport ranking of each country, trusted organizations in the world have analyzed and compiled different official lists showing the best passports based on their methodologies. Therefore, in the article, we will reveal the global passport rankings to help you understand more about your passport. 

WHAT DOES A PASSPORT MEAN?

When you want to travel to other countries, not your home nation, your identity needs to be verified by using an official travel document issued by your Government, known as a passport. Although national governments normally issue your passport, several subnational governments have the authority to provide passports to you in the event that you live inside their borders.

A passport makes it easier for you to travel to and from other nations and gives you access to consular services. Your passport will be used to attest to your personal information, such as your nationality, identity, full name, passport number, birthplace, signature, passport issuance date, passport expiration date, etc. 

A passport makes it easier for you to travel to and from other nations and gives you access to consular services

THE IMPORTANCE OF PASSPORT POWER AND PASSPORT RANKING 

The power of a passport is unquestionable. A passport, one of the most important identity documents, has evolved beyond its physical form and now impacts your quality of life, freedom of movement, and access to opportunities worldwide. Having a passport allows you to travel, experience other cultures, and occasionally even settle down and reside abroad. Therefore, this travel document plays an extremely significant role. 

Additionally, one of the foundations of confidence between countries is passport security. The ability to enforce counterterrorism legislation, together with political and economic variables, determines the level of trust between nations and, consequently, the value of a passport. Nonetheless, verification of delivered IDs is still a crucial component.

Therefore, for the purpose of evaluating the power of each nation or territory, many different companies have analyzed the database. In addition to official data from government authorities, passport rankings are derived from proprietary research from publicly accessible sources. 

In fact, the passport ranking can be regarded as a reliable list that you can use to check out the rank of your country. Furthermore, the ranking also shows the passport power of each country, which helps enhance your country's position in comparison to others.

The passport ranking can be regarded as a reliable list that you can use to check out the rank of your country

TRUSTED PASSPORT RANKING IN THE WORLD

In the world, there are a variety of passport rankings that you can put your trust in. In this article, we will provide some information about two famous passport indexes: the Passport Index and the Henley Passport Index. Let’s check out the details about these indexes below:

The Passport Index

Arton Capital has created an interactive web tool called the Passport Index, which allows users to compare and rate passports from across the world and gain insights into passports. 

The Passport Index compares and evaluates passports mostly based on the countries' visa-free travel policies, but it also considers the level of welcome that each country shows to foreign visitors. In fact, the freedom of movement and visa-free travel available to passport holders are the basis for ranking. Using a wide range of criteria, including region and passport cover color, the online tool enables the display of passports from different jurisdictions.

The Passport Index provides different ranks, consisting of a global passport power rank, an individual passport power rank, and a welcoming countries rank. Each rank has its own criteria to compare and sort different passports around the world. 

The Henley Passport Index

The original and most reliable ranking of all passports in the world based on the number of countries their holders can visit without a prior visa is known as the Henley Passport Index. 

Every year, it rates 199 passports worldwide according to how many countries their holders are able to visit without a visa. The ranking score for a certain passport is based on the number of countries it can enter without a visa. 

In fact, the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index was its original name when it launched in 2006. Since that year, Henley & Partners has examined the visa policies of nearly all the nations and territories around the globe. To achieve these results, they have been working in partnership with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and utilizing official data from their worldwide database. In January 2018, Henley & Partners changed the name of this index to the Henley Passport Index. 

There are a variety of passport rankings that you can put your trust in

WHAT ARE THE MOST POWERFUL PASSPORTS IN THE WORLD?

The power of a passport plays a very important role in promoting different activities related to the economy, tourism, etc. To provide you with a new insight into passport power, we have listed the most powerful passports in the world according to the passport rankings of the Passport Index and the Henley Passport Index.

The Passport Index: Top 10 of the most powerful passports in the world 

Here is a list of the 10 strongest passports globally, according to the Passport Index:

Note:

This list was last updated in March 2024; therefore, the order of the countries can vary. To know exactly the passport ranking, it is recommended that you check the information on the official website of the Passport Index.

The passport of the United Arab Emirates is the strongest passport globally, according to the Passport Index

The Henley Passport Index: Top 10 of the most powerful passports in the world 

The following list of the 10 strongest passports in the world is compiled based on the passport ranking of the Henley Passport Index:

Note:

Because it was last updated in March 2024, it is noteworthy that the order of the countries on this list can be subject to change. It is advised that you verify the details on the Henley Passport Index's official website in order to determine your passport's actual rank.

The passport of Japan is one of the most powerful passports globally, based on the passport ranking of the Henley Passport Index

RANKING METHODOLOGY FOR EACH PASSPORT RANKING

To rank the different passports of countries and territories, both the Passport Index and the Henley Passport Index utilize different methodologies to determine the passport score. 

The methodology of the Passport Index

The Passport Index methodology has been carefully designed to guarantee perfect precision and consistency. It is affected by the following factors:

• The Passport Index ranks 193 member countries of the United Nations as well as six territories, including the Vatican, Kosovo, the Palestinian Territory, Macao (a special administrative region of China), Hong Kong (a special administrative region of China), and ROC Taiwan. 

• Territories are not included and are not regarded as destinations if they do not issue their own passports. Excluded from ranking consideration are areas that have been annexed by other nations, such as French Polynesia (France), Norfolk Island (Australia), the British Virgin Islands (Britain), etc.

• All nations that grant passports are regarded as destinations, regardless of whether they have independent visa requirements or not.

• For the Passport Index, the data is derived from government-provided official sources, is updated in real-time with crowdsourced intelligence, and is supplemented with private research from reliable sources.

• A three-tier system is used to ascertain each passport's rank, including the mobility score (MS), the visa-free portion of its score in comparison to VOA, and the 2018 United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index (UNDP HDI).

In addition to comparing passports based on visa-free travel choices, it also evaluates how friendly each country is to international visitors. Therefore, the score of each passport is calculated depending on these objectives. 

The methodology of the Henley Passport Index

The Henley Passport Index is a global evaluation of nations’ passports based on the degree of freedom from travel that their citizens are granted. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the largest and most reliable source of travel statistics, provided unique data that the Henley & Partners research team used to strengthen the score.

For the Henley Passport Index, in order to accurately evaluate the passport ranking, it applies a methodology of comparison between each of the 199 passports and all 227 potential travel destinations for which travel restriction information is available in the database of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The score is calculated as follows:

• A score of 1 is generated for a certain passport in the event that there is no requirement for a visa or you are able to enter the destination with an electronic travel authority (ETA), visitor's permit, or visa on arrival (VOA).

• In contrast, a score of 0 is given in the event that obtaining a government-approved electronic visa (E-Visa) or a regular visa prior to departure is mandatory for passport holders. This score is also applied in the case where you require official pre-departure permission in order to obtain an arrival visa.

The total score for every passport of a certain country on the list is equal to the number of destinations where a visa is not needed. Moreover, the score is updated all year round. 

Both the Passport Index and the Henley Passport Index utilize different methodologies to determine the passport score

In conclusion, if you want to comprehend each nation's passport ranking, you can visit the websites of the aforementioned reliable organizations, including the Passport Index and the Henley Passport Index. They have examined and assembled many official lists that display the top passports based on their methodologies. 

We hope that this article will be helpful for you, providing a comprehensive insight into the importance of your current passport. In the event that you require assistance from us, please reach out to us at [email protected].