The world’s most powerful passports for 2024

(CNN) — In a major shake-up to the quarterly ranking of the world’s most powerful passports, an unprecedented six countries are tied for the top spot for the most popular travel documents through 2024.

Citizens of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain can enjoy visa-free or visa on arrival access to 194 incredible destinations around the world – 19 years since the Henley Passport Index began tracking global travel freedom. The highest number recorded since. The index is created by Henley & Partners, a London-based global citizenship and residency advisory firm, using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Asian countries like Japan and Singapore have dominated the number one spot for the past five years, but the new top five is a triumphant rise for Europe. Finland and Sweden tied for second place with South Korea (with easy access to 193 destinations), while Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands tied for third place (with 192 destinations).

Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom are in fourth place, while Greece, Malta and Switzerland are in fifth place.

Australia and New Zealand have improved their rankings and are now tied at sixth place with the Czech Republic and Poland. Meanwhile, the United States and Canada follow Hungary in seventh place with visa-free access to 188 destinations.

growing gap

The UAE remains the country that has risen the most in the index over the past decade, adding 106 destinations to its visa-free score since 2014 and rising to 11th this year.

Christian H. Kellin, president of Henley & Partners and creator of the Passport Index, said in a statement that the general trend over the past two decades has been toward greater freedom of travel, but the global mobility gap between people at the top and bottom of the index is now higher than ever before. is much more widespread.

“The average number of visa-free destinations visited by travelers is expected to nearly double from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024,” says Kellin. “However, the top-ranked countries can now travel to 166 more visa-free destinations than Afghanistan, which is at the bottom of the ranking with access to only 28 visa-free countries.” Syria – with visa-free access to only 29 destinations – ranked second lowest ranking, Citizens of Iraq can reach 31 and citizens of Pakistan can reach 34.

Henley & Partners’ list is one of several indices created by financial firms to rank global passports based on the accessibility they provide to their citizens.

multiple index

The Arton Capital Passport Index takes into account the passports of 193 UN member states and six territories: Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Kosovo, the Palestinian Territories and the Vatican. Areas belonging to other countries are excluded.

It is also updated in real time throughout the year, but its data is collected by close monitoring of individual government portals. “It’s a tool for people who travel to provide accurate, easily accessible information for their travel needs,” Armand Arton, founder of Arton Capital, told CNN in 2022.

The UAE has been ranked first in Artan’s Global Passport Power Rank 2024 with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 180.

As far as the second place is concerned, it is occupied by five European countries: Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland are in third place, while the United Kingdom and the United States are in fifth and sixth place respectively.

Arton Capital’s 2023 summary highlighted last year’s surge in global mobility gains by regional powerhouses such as Hong Kong, Macau and Monaco, but declared Albania its “rising star”. “Demand for its renowned and hard-working citizens has increased dramatically, and governments are working to make it easier for Albanians to live and work in their countries,” Arton Capital said in a statement.

The world’s most powerful passports for 2024

• France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain (194 destinations)
• Finland, South Korea, Sweden (193 destinations)
• Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands (192 destinations)
• Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom (193 destinations)
• Greece, Malta, Switzerland (190 destinations)
• Czech Republic, New Zealand, Poland (189 destinations)
• Canada, Hungary, United States (188 destinations)
•Estonia,Lithuania (187 destinations)
• Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (186 destinations)
• Iceland (185 destinations)