Singapore Tops 2023 Henley Passport Index as Japan Slides: The Most Powerful Passports Revealed

In a significant shift, Japan has been dethroned from its long-standing reign as the world’s most powerful passport, making way for Singapore to claim the top spot in the latest Henley Passport Index 2023 rankings. This annual passport ranking measures visa-free access to global destinations, and this year’s results have brought a reshuffling of the global passport hierarchy.

Singapore: The New Passport Powerhouse
Singapore now leads the pack with its citizens enjoying visa-free access to an impressive 192 out of 227 destinations worldwide. This achievement reflects Singapore’s commitment to a borderless world for its travelers.

Europe’s Strong Presence
While Japan slips to third place, three European nations have joined the ranks of the second-most powerful passports. Germany, Italy, and Spain each offer visa-free access to 190 destinations, reaffirming Europe’s prominence in the realm of global travel.

How Does the Henley Passport Index Work?
The Henley Passport Index ranks passports based on the number of destinations passport holders can visit without requiring a visa. This data-driven index relies on information from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and has been a trusted resource for passport comparisons for 18 years. Countries earn one point for each destination their citizens can access visa-free, whether it involves visa-free entry, visa-on-arrival, or an electronic travel authority (ETA).

Top Passport Holders at a Glance:

• Singapore (192 destinations)
• Germany, Italy, Spain (190 destinations each)
• Japan, Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, Sweden (189 destinations each)
• Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom (188 destinations each)
• Belgium, Czechia, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland (187 destinations each)
• Australia, Hungary, Poland (186 destinations each)
• Canada, Greece (185 destinations each)
• Lithuania, United States (184 destinations each)
• Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (183 destinations each)
• Estonia, Iceland (182 destinations each)

Notably, the United Kingdom has ascended from sixth place to fourth, marking its highest rank since 2017. Conversely, the United States has continued its decade-long decline, falling two spots to eighth place, with the smallest score increase among the top-ranked countries.

Weakest Passports:
At the other end of the spectrum, Afghanistan remains the weakest passport, offering visa-free access to just 27 destinations, a stark contrast to Singapore’s 192. Iraq (29 destinations) and Syria (30 destinations) follow as the next least powerful passports.

Travel Freedom and Inequality:
The Passport Index reveals a general trend of increasing travel freedom, with the average number of countries accessible visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023. Only eight countries have fewer visa-free destinations than they did a decade ago.

Countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Colombia have seen significant improvements in their rankings, gaining visa-free access to an additional 107 and 28 destinations, respectively, over the past decade.

Despite this overall progress, the gap between the most and least powerful passports is widening, highlighting disparities in global travel opportunities.

The Henley Openness Index: Welcoming Visa Policies
In addition to the Henley Passport Index, a new ranking called the Henley Openness Index sheds light on countries with the most and least welcoming visa policies. Small island nations, African states, and Cambodia dominate the top 20 rankings.

A select group of countries, including Burundi, Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Maldives, Micronesia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Samoa, Seychelles, Timor-Leste, and Tuvalu, offer visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to all 198 other passport holders globally.

Conversely, Afghanistan, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Turkmenistan do not permit visa-free access to any passport holders. Several countries, including Libya, Bhutan, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and India, extend visa-free access to fewer than five other nationalities.

Openness vs. Access:
It’s important to note that high openness does not always translate to high visa-free access. Singapore and South Korea, both relatively open nations, have climbed the Passport Index, while the USA and Canada have seen their rankings drop due to stagnant openness. American passport holders can access 184 out of 227 destinations visa-free, whereas only 44 other nationalities receive the same privilege. EU states, in contrast, grant visa-free access to over twice as many countries as the USA.

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Japan exhibit significant disparities between the travel freedom they enjoy and the visa-free access they offer to other nations.

The 2023 Henley Passport Index and Henley Openness Index provide a comprehensive overview of global passport power and visa policies. While Singapore takes the lead as the world’s most powerful passport, these rankings illustrate the evolving landscape of international travel and the growing importance of visa policies in shaping global mobility. As countries seek to balance security and openness, travelers must navigate the changing landscape of passport power.