The most powerful passports in the...

UAE passport is the list’s highest climber at number 11

The Henley Passport Index, which is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has released this year’s global passport ranking.

For the past five years, Japan and Singapore have occupied first place on the index, which ranks all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

For the 2024 ranking, four EU member states – France, Germany, Italy and Spain – have joined Japan and Singapore in the joint-top slot with passport holders from all these countries able to visit 194 destinations out of 227 listed visa-free.

South Korea joins Finland and Sweden in second place with citizens having visa-free travel to 193 destinations.

Another four EU nations – Austria, Denmark, Ireland and The Netherlands – share third place with visa-free access to 192 destinations.

The rest of the top 10 is also dominated by European countries, with the UK climbing up two ranks to 4th place with visa-free access to 191 destinations compared to 188 last year.

The destinations with the top 10 more powerful passport scores:

France; Germany; Italy; Japan; Singapore; Spain
Finland; South Korea; Sweden
Austria; Denmark; Ireland; Netherlands
Belgium; Luxembourg; Norway; Portugal; United Kingdom
Greece; Malta; Switzerland
Australia; Czechia; New Zealand; Poland
Canada; Hungary; United States
Estonia; Lithuania
Latvia; Slovakia; Slovenia
Iceland

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The UAE remains the biggest climber on the Henley Passport Index over the past decade, adding an impressive 106 destinations to its visa-free score since 2014, resulting in a massive leap of 44 places in the ranking from 55th to 11th place.

The five least powerful passports for 2024 are those from Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan in last place.

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