With free entry into 192 countries, Japanese and Singaporean passports are the best passports in the world while Germany and South Korea take the second spot out of 116 in the world.
The latest outcome of research by a London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners (H&P) has revealed.
Most of the countries that made the top 20 ranked among the top 10 safest countries in the 2018 Global Peace Index.
H&P in the Passport Index based its research on the data made available to it by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) which was obtained by InfomediaNG Business Solutions.
The countries are based on visa-free score, that is the influence and the number of countries holders of such passports can gain entry into.
Iceland which is the safest country to travel to occupies the No. 12 position as the most powerful passport in the world, with a score of 180 while New Zealand which is the second safest country is in the 6th position alongside Belgium and Switzerland with 186 score.
The passport of the United States has 185 score, occupying the 7th position alongside the United Kingdom, Norway, Greece, Malta, and Czech Republic.
While the Taliban-controlled country of Afghanistan and four other war-ridden countries are the worst passports, Nigeria Passport is also one of the top 20 worst passports to hold in the world.
What Does This Mean?
With 192 score, holders of Japanese and Singaporean passports can travel to 192 foreign countries without the need for a travel visa. They only need a valid passport for entry and exit purposes.
| Visa-free score | Passport | Rank |
| 192 | Japan, Singapore | 1 |
| 190 | Germany, South Korea | 2 |
| 189 | Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain | 3 |
| 188 | Australia, Denmark | 4 |
| 187 | France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden | 5 |
| 186 | Belgium, New Zealand, and Switzerland | 6 |
| 185 | Czech republic, Greece, Malta, Norway, United Kingdom, and the United States | 7 |
| 184 | Australia and Canada | 8 |
| 183 | Hungary | 9 |
| 182 | Slovakia, Poland, and Lithuania | 10 |
| 181 | Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia | 11 |
| 180 | Iceland | 12 |
| 179 | Malaysia | 13 |
| 178 | Liechtenstein | 14 |
| 176 | Cyprus | 15 |
| 174 | United Arab Emirate, Romania, Chile, and Monaco | 16 |
| 173 | Bulgaria | 17 |
| 172 | Croatia | 18 |
| 171 | Hong Kong | 19 |
| 170 | Brazil and Argentina | 20 |
Henley & Partners covers 227 travel destinations in its travel index. The company has more than 30 offices spread across the world.
Featured Image credit:
- Jaimie Harmsen on Unsplash
