Australia has cracked the top 10 of the world’s most powerful passports.
Singapore is currently in the number one spot, with visa-free access to 193 destinations out of 227 globally, according to the latest Henley Passport Index .
The index is powered by exclusive Timatic data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and ranks all the world’s passports based on the number of destinations their holders can enter without a prior visa.
Australia currently ranks seventh, in a tie with the likes of Czechia, Hungary, Malta and Poland, with visa-free access to 185 countries. Our Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand are in fifth, with access to 187 countries.
Asian nations continue to lead the global mobility race, with Japan and South Korea sharing second place, each granting their citizens access to 190 destinations visa-free.
A strong European contingent occupies the rest of the top five. Seven EU passports share third place – Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain, all with access to 189 destinations.
At the other end of the global mobility spectrum, Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the ranking, with its citizens able to access just 25 destinations without a prior visa.
Once the most powerful passports in the world – the UK in 2015 and the U.S. in 2014 – they now rank sixth and 10th respectively. The U.S. is now on the brink of exiting the top 10 altogether for the first time in the index’s 20-year history.
“Traditional mobility champions are losing ground in an increasingly multi-polar world,” said Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, the inventor of the passport index concept.
“As emerging economies liberalise their visa regimes and invest in diplomatic capital, legacy powers like the UK and the US appear to be retreating behind more restrictive entry policies.”
