Six countries share the top ranking of the world's strongest passports, granting visa-free access to a record number of destinations worldwide. After five years under the exclusive control of Asian countries, this year Singapore and Japan joined at the top of the ranking, four EU member states - France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Their citizens can visit 194 destinations out of 227 worldwide without a visa. The new ranking was published according to the 2024 Passport Index by Henley & Partners, a firm that builds investment-dependent residency or citizenship programs, based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Austrian passport ranked third in the world, photo: iStock
South Korea joins Finland and Sweden in second place this year, with access to 193 visa-free destinations. Third place is shared by four EU countries – Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands – with access to 192 destinations. The remaining places in the top ten of the index are also dominated by European countries, with the UK climbing to fourth place in the ranking this year, with access to 191 destinations, compared to 188, last year. Australian and New Zealand passport holders also jump straight to sixth place with access to 189 destinations. While the U.S. retains its seventh place in the ranking, with access to 188 destinations, visa-free.
Israel soars in rankings
In light of Israel's joining the US Visa Waiver Program, a decision that went into effect last October, the Israeli passport today grants access to 166 destinations around the world, an increase of four destinations compared to last year, and is ranked 21st and respectable on the list.
The visa exemption helped the Israeli passport advance on the list, Photo: AP
The most powerful passports in the world
Biggest winners and losers of the year
The UAE is the country that has recorded the most significant jump in the passport index in the past decade. Since 2014, the country has added no fewer than 106 destinations, leading to a 44-place jump in the ranking, straight to 11th place, and one step out of the top ten.
The highest jump is the Emirati passport, photo: Yael Ron Yaakobi
Two other countries that have seen a very impressive jump in the past decade, with an overall increase of 21 places in the ranking and 2 this year alone, are Ukraine and China, the former in 32nd place with 148 destinations, and the second in 62nd place with 85 destinations, compared to only 44 in 2014. Over the past decade, Russia has added no fewer than 24 destinations to its passport that do not require visas for its citizens, but since 2017 its ranking has hardly changed, ranking 51st this year with access to 119 destinations.
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