The inhabitants of Japan and Singapore have the most powerful passport in the world
Like every year, the London consultancy Henley & Partners (specialized in **citizen services) ** prepares a report that, validated and based on the information provided by the IATA (the International Air Transport Association, which has the largest travel database in the world) shows the power of a passport . Namely: How many countries open their doors when showing the world's passports?
"For some people, the passport is a portal to the world; for others, a barrier to the freedom to travel." This is how consulting defines the power of a passport. A 'booklet' that determines in which countries of the world we can put the pushpin. To make the report, Henly & Partners is based on the number of Visa-free travel that a single passport allows.
THE RANKING OF 'FREEDOM'
Until last year, Germany was in first place. (podium that boasted for five years); however, in 2019, the German country has dropped to second place in favor of Japan and Singapore that share the number 1.
This 2019 is the confirmation of the great power of Asian passports : both Japan and Singapore passport open the doors to 190 countries each.
In second place, another Asian: South Korea share position with Finland and Germany , whose passports allow travel to 188 countries without the need to obtain a prior visa.
In the last positions: Nepal (with access to 38 countries) , Libya, Palestinian Territories and Sudan (with 37) , Yemen (33) , Pakistan and Somalia (31) , Syria (29) , Iraq (27) and Afghanistan (25) .
Denmark, Italy and Luxembourg , occupy the third position giving access to 187 countries; France, Sweden and Spain , in fourth position, open the doors of 186 countries. In the case of Spain, it is interesting to see how in one year our passport has gone from allowing us access to 174 countries to 186. 12 new countries are added to our traveling world map.
In fifth position, Austria, the Netherlands and Portugal (with 185 countries) ; Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Belgium, Canada, Greece and Ireland they share the sixth position with 184 countries. Czech Republic and Malta they get the seventh position and give access to 183 countries. New Zealand, Australia, Lithuania and Slovakia, in ninth position and with 181 countries. And in tenth position, Iceland, Hungary, Latvia and Slovenia, with 180 countries.
WHAT CAN WE DO WITH THE HENLEY REPORT PASSPORT MAP
To say that a passport is synonymous with freedom, is that an exaggeration? Maybe. But this statement has its point: a passport opens borders , allows mobility in a simple way between countries and also to know other cultures.
"The Henley Report goes beyond a simple list of passports; it provides a deep picture of travel freedom, including which countries you can travel to with what type of visa, how your passport has changed over the last 14 years, how your passport compares with others, why your passport has the level of access it does, and what other passports would improve your mobility around the world," reads the company's declaration of intent.
Example of Spain in the Henley Passport Index
And that's what your website does. We can click on any country on the map. Then it will display a information box and a list with all the countries in the world to which we can travel from that country, ordered by continent.
And at any time, indicate in the drop-down menu on the right, what passport do we have, where would we like to travel and what type of documentation would be necessary (in case of not being able to enter the country of destination only with our passport).
In addition, we can check with a small image how is the passport of each country and, under your photo, find your position in the world ranking with a simple bar graph.
Henley Passport Index Bar Chart
In the menu on the left, two more options: to which countries can we travel only with the selected passport, to which countries can we not travel only with it. In the Spanish case, we see that there are 40 countries that would close their doors to us.
Example of Spain in the Henley Passport Index