In a significant update, Singapore has secured the top position on the Henley Passport Index for the year 2023, making it the world's most powerful passport with an impressive visa-free access to 192 travel destinations. Surprisingly, Japan, the previous frontrunner, has now slipped down to the third position, according to the newly released list on July 18.
Sharing the second rank on the list are three European countries, namely Germany, Italy, and Spain, each with visa-free access to 190 destinations. This marks the first time in five years that Japan has lost its top spot. It now shares its rank with Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden.
On the other hand, India finds itself ranked at 80 on the list. The Indian passport shares this spot with Senegal and Togo, providing visa-free access to 57 destinations. At the opposite end, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan hold the unenviable titles of having the world's weakest passports, ranked at 101, 102, and 103 respectively. Pakistan finds itself on the 100th spot.
The Henley Passport Index is a comprehensive comparison of visa-free access for 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations. For each passport that requires no visa, a score of 1 is assigned. The same score applies if the passport allows obtaining a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering a particular destination.
Excitingly, the UK has experienced a positive shift, jumping up two places to claim the fourth position after a six-year decline. The last time it held this position was in 2017. In stark contrast, the US has witnessed a decade-long slide down the index, plummeting two places further to secure the eighth spot with access to only 184 destinations visa-free. Interestingly, nearly a decade ago in 2014, both the UK and the US jointly held the first place on the index, but their trajectory has been downward since then.
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