Type of site | Passport guidance |
---|---|
Available in | English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian |
Headquarters | London [1] |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Owner | Henley & Partners |
URL | www |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | None |
Launched | 2005[2] |
Current status | Online |
The Henley Passport Index is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom allowed by those countries' ordinary passports for their citizens. [3] It was launched in 2005 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index [4] and was updated to Henley Passport Index in January 2018. [5]
The index annually ranks 199 passports of the world by the number of countries that their holders can travel to without requiring a visa. [6] The number of countries that a specific passport can access becomes its visa-free "score". The data is obtained from the International Air Transport Association (IATA)'s [7] Timatic documentation requirements database. [4] [8]
The Henley Passport index ranks passports according to the number of destinations that can be reached using a particular country's ordinary passport without the need of a prior visa ("visa-free"). [9] [10] [11] The survey ranks 199 passports against 227 destination [12] countries, territories, and micro-states. [13] [14] [15]
The IATA maintains a database of travel information worldwide and all destinations that are in the IATA database are considered by the index. [16] However, because not all territories issue passports, there are far fewer passports ranked than destinations about which queries are made. [17]
To determine the score for each country or territory, [18] its passport is checked against the IATA Timatic database in several steps:
As of 16 July 2024, the Singaporean passport offers holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 195 countries [23] and territories, [24] followed by the Japanese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish passports offer holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 192 countries followed by the Austrian, Finnish, Irish, Luxembourgish, Dutch, South Korean and Swedish passports, each offering 191 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to its holders. [25] These rankings were subsequently followed by the Belgian, Danish, New Zealand, Norwegian, Swiss, and British passports, each offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 190 countries and territories. [26] The 2024 Henley Passport Index shows a worldwide improvement in the access to visa-free travel. Also the gap between the top and the bottom ranked countries has widened. [27]
Asian countries like Japan and Singapore have dominated the top position in the Index for the last five years. [28]
The Afghan passport has once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 28 destinations visa-free. [29] [30] This was followed by the Syrian passport at 29 destinations, the Iraqi passport at 31 destinations and the Pakistani and Yemini passports at 34 destinations. Among African countries, the Somali passport is the weakest passport according to the index. [31]
As of 8 December 2023, the Singaporean passport offered holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 195 countries [23] and territories, [24] followed by the Japanese with 193 and the Finnish, French, German, Italian, South Korean, Spanish and Swedish passports, each offering 190 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to its holders. These rankings were subsequently followed by the Austrian, Danish, Irish, Luxembourgeois and British passports, each offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 189 countries and territories.
An Afghan passport had once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 27 destinations visa-free. [29] [32] This was followed by the Iraqi passport at 29 destinations and the Syrian passport at 30 destinations. [33]
As of 2022, a Japanese passport offered its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 193 countries and territories, with South Korean and Singapore passports each offering 192 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to their holders. [34] [35] An American passport offered its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 186 countries and territories, with the British passport offering 187 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to their holders. Canadian and Australian passports each offered their holders visa-free access to 185 countries and territories. [36]
An Afghan passport had once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 27 destinations visa-free. [37]
A number of Asian and European countries are notable for their stability over the past decade, and Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Japan, Singapore, Spain, and Sweden all remain in exactly the same position as 10 years before. The 'Top 10s' were almost identical, with 30 countries in 2015, compared to 26 a decade before. While Liechtenstein dropped, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia, and South Korea all made it into the top 10.
Taiwan, Albania, the United Arab Emirates, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia all moved up more than 20 places in the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index over the period, while the biggest drops were experienced by Guinea (−32), Liberia (−33), Sierra Leone (−35), and Bolivia (−37).
In the table below, the "access" columns denote the number of visa-free destinations for holders of that passport. Unless indicated otherwise, the data in this table is taken from these sources. [38] [39]
Country | 2020 rank | 2020 access | 2019 rank | 2010 rank | 2006 rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Japan | 1 | 191 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
Singapore | 2 | 190 | 1 | 11 | 8 |
Germany | 3 | 189 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
South Korea | 3 | 189 | 2 | 13 | 11 |
Finland | 4 | 188 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Italy | 4 | 188 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
Luxembourg | 4 | 188 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
Spain | 4 | 188 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
Austria | 5 | 187 | 5 | 8 | 6 |
Denmark | 5 | 187 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
France | 6 | 186 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
Ireland | 6 | 186 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
Netherlands | 6 | 186 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Portugal | 6 | 186 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
Sweden | 6 | 186 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
Belgium | 7 | 185 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
Switzerland | 7 | 185 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
Norway | 7 | 185 | 6 | 7 | 4 |
United Kingdom | 7 | 185 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
United States | 7 | 185 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
Czech Republic | 8 | 184 | 7 | 18 | 21 |
Greece | 8 | 184 | 6 | 12 | 9 |
Malta | 8 | 184 | 7 | 15 | 11 |
New Zealand | 8 | 184 | 8 | 9 | 6 |
Australia | 9 | 183 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Canada | 9 | 183 | 6 | 9 | 6 |
Hungary | 10 | 182 | 10 | 18 | 19 |
Lithuania | 11 | 181 | 9 | 19 | 24 |
Poland | 11 | 181 | 13 | 16 | 16 |
Slovakia | 11 | 181 | 9 | 17 | 22 |
Iceland | 12 | 180 | 10 | 13 | 9 |
Latvia | 12 | 180 | 10 | 20 | 26 |
Slovenia | 12 | 180 | 10 | 17 | 17 |
Estonia | 13 | 179 | 11 | 19 | 26 |
Liechtenstein | 14 | 178 | 12 | 14 | 10 |
Malaysia | 14 | 178 | 12 | 13 | 9 |
Monaco | 15 | 175 | 14 | 21 | 15 |
Chile | 16 | 174 | 13 | 27 | 14 |
Cyprus | 16 | 174 | 14 | 18 | 12 |
Romania | 17 | 172 | 16 | 22 | 34 |
Bulgaria | 18 | 171 | 17 | 25 | 29 |
Argentina | 19 | 170 | 17 | 26 | 19 |
Brazil | 19 | 170 | 17 | 28 | 20 |
Croatia | 19 | 170 | 18 | 35 | 28 |
Hong Kong | 19 | 170 | 18 | 19 | 13 |
United Arab Emirates | 19 | 170 | 15 | 65 | 62 |
San Marino | 20 | 168 | 19 | 23 | 14 |
Andorra | 21 | 167 | 20 | 27 | 20 |
Brunei | 22 | 166 | 21 | 24 | 19 |
Barbados | 23 | 161 | 22 | 29 | 35 |
Israel | 24 | 160 | 22 | 25 | 18 |
Mexico | 25 | 159 | 23 | 32 | 21 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 26 | 156 | 24 | 31 | 40 |
Bahamas | 27 | 155 | 24 | 30 | 35 |
Uruguay | 28 | 153 | 25 | 34 | 20 |
Antigua and Barbuda | 29 | 151 | 28 | 33 | 39 |
Seychelles | 29 | 151 | 26 | 39 | 46 |
Costa Rica | 30 | 150 | 27 | 37 | 23 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 30 | 150 | 29 | 45 | 36 |
Vatican City | 31 | 149 | 29 | 39 | |
Mauritius | 32 | 148 | 30 | 40 | 46 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 32 | 148 | 31 | 47 | 38 |
Saint Lucia | 33 | 146 | 31 | 46 | 39 |
Taiwan | 33 | 146 | 31 | 69 | 55 |
Macau | 34 | 144 | 33 | 44 | 35 |
Grenada | 35 | 143 | 32 | 49 | 41 |
Paraguay | 36 | 142 | 32 | 39 | 30 |
Panama | 37 | 141 | 34 | 41 | 30 |
Dominica | 38 | 140 | 35 | 51 | 46 |
Peru | 39 | 135 | 36 | 58 | 56 |
El Salvador | 40 | 134 | 37 | 42 | 31 |
Honduras | 40 | 134 | 37 | 42 | 32 |
Serbia | 40 | 134 | 39 | 47 | 64 |
Guatemala | 41 | 133 | 38 | 42 | 30 |
Samoa | 42 | 131 | 39 | 53 | 49 |
Solomon Islands | 42 | 131 | 40 | 52 | 44 |
Vanuatu | 43 | 130 | 40 | 55 | 51 |
Nicaragua | 44 | 129 | 41 | 43 | 33 |
Ukraine | 44 | 129 | 43 | 65 | 64 |
Venezuela | 44 | 129 | 38 | 36 | 25 |
Colombia | 45 | 127 | 43 | 73 | 64 |
Tuvalu | 45 | 127 | 42 | 54 | 48 |
Tonga | 46 | 125 | 44 | 57 | 52 |
Montenegro | 47 | 124 | 46 | 48 | |
North Macedonia | 47 | 124 | 45 | 46 | |
Kiribati | 48 | 122 | 46 | 56 | 49 |
Marshall Islands | 48 | 122 | 46 | 66 | 61 |
Moldova | 49 | 120 | 47 | 66 | |
Palau | 50 | 119 | 47 | 70 | |
Micronesia | 51 | 118 | 47 | 69 | |
Russia | 51 | 118 | 48 | 49 | 62 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 52 | 117 | 49 | 74 | 71 |
Georgia | 53 | 116 | 50 | 72 | 68 |
Albania | 54 | 114 | 51 | 78 | 79 |
Turkey | 55 | 111 | 52 | 46 | 46 |
Belize | 56 | 101 | 54 | 50 | 42 |
South Africa | 56 | 101 | 53 | 47 | 37 |
Kuwait | 57 | 95 | 56 | 58 | 58 |
Qatar | 57 | 95 | 57 | 63 | 60 |
East Timor | 57 | 95 | 55 | 85 | |
Ecuador | 58 | 91 | 58 | 64 | 56 |
Nauru | 59 | 89 | 60 | 56 | 54 |
Fiji | 60 | 88 | 59 | 57 | 51 |
Guyana | 60 | 88 | 60 | 57 | 45 |
Jamaica | 61 | 86 | 61 | 56 | 45 |
Botswana | 62 | 85 | 62 | 60 | 50 |
Maldives | 62 | 85 | 61 | 56 | 52 |
Papua New Guinea | 63 | 84 | 62 | 59 | 56 |
Bahrain | 64 | 82 | 63 | 62 | 59 |
Oman | 65 | 79 | 64 | 68 | 61 |
Bolivia | 66 | 78 | 65 | 67 | 29 |
Suriname | 66 | 78 | 65 | 66 | 57 |
Thailand | 66 | 78 | 66 | 69 | 67 |
Namibia | 67 | 77 | 67 | 62 | 56 |
Saudi Arabia | 67 | 77 | 69 | 71 | 65 |
Kazakhstan | 68 | 76 | 68 | 73 | 68 |
Belarus | 69 | 75 | 67 | 72 | 64 |
Lesotho | 69 | 75 | 69 | 64 | 47 |
China | 70 | 74 | 72 | 88 | 78 |
Eswatini | 70 | 74 | 70 | 65 | 52 |
Malawi | 71 | 73 | 71 | 64 | 50 |
Kenya | 72 | 72 | 72 | 64 | 52 |
Indonesia | 73 | 71 | 73 | 84 | 67 |
Tanzania | 73 | 71 | 75 | 68 | 56 |
Zambia | 73 | 71 | 73 | 65 | 53 |
Tunisia | 74 | 69 | 75 | 67 | 59 |
Gambia | 75 | 68 | 74 | 61 | 45 |
Azerbaijan | 76 | 67 | 76 | 76 | 68 |
Philippines | 76 | 67 | 77 | 73 | 63 |
Uganda | 76 | 67 | 76 | 70 | 58 |
Cape Verde | 77 | 66 | 76 | 73 | |
Dominican Republic | 78 | 65 | 78 | 77 | 71 |
Ghana | 78 | 65 | 77 | 67 | 53 |
Zimbabwe | 78 | 65 | 78 | 70 | 56 |
Cuba | 79 | 64 | 77 | 78 | 69 |
Morocco | 79 | 64 | 80 | 76 | 66 |
Armenia | 80 | 63 | 81 | 76 | 69 |
Kyrgyzstan | 80 | 63 | 80 | 74 | 68 |
Sierra Leone | 80 | 63 | 79 | 64 | 51 |
Benin | 81 | 62 | 80 | 73 | 61 |
Mozambique | 81 | 62 | 81 | 82 | 74 |
Mongolia | 81 | 62 | 80 | 82 | 72 |
São Tomé and Príncipe | 82 | 61 | 81 | 83 | 74 |
Rwanda | 83 | 60 | 84 | 87 | 73 |
Burkina Faso | 84 | 59 | 83 | 76 | 62 |
Mauritania | 84 | 59 | 83 | 40 | 58 |
India | 85 | 58 | 82 | 77 | 71 |
Tajikistan | 85 | 58 | 84 | 77 | 69 |
Gabon | 86 | 57 | 85 | 85 | 72 |
Ivory Coast | 86 | 57 | 84 | 72 | |
Uzbekistan | 86 | 57 | 85 | 80 | 72 |
Senegal | 87 | 56 | 86 | 76 | 60 |
Equatorial Guinea | 88 | 55 | 89 | 89 | 76 |
Guinea | 88 | 55 | 85 | 75 | 60 |
Madagascar | 88 | 55 | 87 | 83 | 71 |
Togo | 88 | 55 | 86 | 76 | 62 |
Cambodia | 89 | 54 | 88 | 87 | 79 |
Mali | 89 | 54 | 87 | 75 | 59 |
Niger | 89 | 54 | 87 | 76 | 60 |
Vietnam | 89 | 54 | 90 | 84 | 78 |
Bhutan | 90 | 53 | 89 | 83 | 77 |
Chad | 90 | 53 | 88 | 82 | |
Comoros | 90 | 53 | 88 | 89 | |
Guinea-Bissau | 90 | 53 | 87 | 79 | 63 |
Turkmenistan | 90 | 53 | 90 | 86 | 77 |
Central African Republic | 91 | 52 | 90 | 81 | 68 |
Algeria | 92 | 51 | 91 | 79 | 73 |
Jordan | 92 | 51 | 92 | 97 | 75 |
Angola | 93 | 50 | 92 | 92 | 77 |
Burundi | 93 | 50 | 93 | 89 | 78 |
Egypt | 93 | 50 | 92 | 84 | |
Laos | 93 | 50 | 92 | 85 | 76 |
Cameroon | 94 | 49 | 92 | 85 | 70 |
Haiti | 94 | 49 | 92 | 85 | 74 |
Liberia | 94 | 49 | 93 | 82 | 65 |
Congo | 95 | 48 | 94 | 85 | 69 |
Djibouti | 96 | 47 | 95 | 91 | 77 |
Myanmar | 96 | 47 | 95 | 92 | 81 |
Nigeria | 97 | 46 | 95 | 76 | 62 |
Ethiopia | 98 | 44 | 97 | 92 | 78 |
South Sudan | 99 | 43 | 97 | ||
DR Congo | 100 | 42 | 97 | 90 | |
Eritrea | 100 | 42 | 99 | 93 | 76 |
Sri Lanka | 100 | 42 | 96 | 84 | 74 |
Bangladesh | 101 | 41 | 99 | 85 | 68 |
Iran | 101 | 41 | 99 | 92 | 82 |
Kosovo | 102 | 40 | 98 | 89 | |
Lebanon | 102 | 40 | 100 | 94 | 79 |
Sudan | 102 | 40 | 102 | 96 | 79 |
North Korea | 103 | 39 | 100 | 90 | 78 |
Libya | 104 | 38 | 100 | 87 | 77 |
Nepal | 104 | 38 | 101 | 88 | 76 |
Palestine | 104 | 38 | 102 | 97 | |
Somalia | 105 | 33 | 104 | 95 | 81 |
Yemen | 105 | 33 | 103 | 88 | 78 |
Pakistan | 106 | 32 | 104 | 90 | 79 |
Syria | 107 | 29 | 105 | 87 | 80 |
Iraq | 108 | 28 | 106 | 97 | 81 |
Afghanistan | 109 | 26 | 107 | 98 | 83 |
A visa is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on the duration of the foreigner's stay, areas within the country they may enter, the dates they may enter, the number of permitted visits, or if the individual can work in the country in question. Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter a territory and thus are, in most countries, distinct from actual formal permission for an alien to enter and remain in the country. In each instance, a visa is subject to entry permission by an immigration official at the time of actual entry and can be revoked at any time. Visa evidence most commonly takes the form of a sticker endorsed in the applicant's passport or other travel document but may also exist electronically. Some countries no longer issue physical visa evidence, instead recording details only in immigration databases.
The Czech passport is an international travel document issued to nationals of the Czech Republic, and may also serve as proof of Czech citizenship. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indication of Czech citizenship, the passport facilitates the process of securing assistance from Czech consular officials abroad or other European Union member states in case a Czech consular is absent, if needed.
A French passport is an identity document issued to French citizens. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indication of French nationality, the passport facilitates the process of securing assistance from French consular officials abroad or other European Union member states in case a French consular is absent, if needed.
Hungarian passports are issued to Hungarian citizens for international travel by The Central Data Processing, Registration and Election Office of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior. Every Hungarian citizen is also a citizen of the European Union. The passport, besides the national identity card allows for free rights of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland.
Venezuelan passport are issued to citizens of Venezuela to travel outside the country. Biometric passports have been issued since July 2007, with a RFID chip containing a picture and fingerprints; passports issued earlier remained valid until they expired.
A Bulgarian passport is an international travel document issued to nationals of Bulgaria, and may also serve as proof of Bulgarian citizenship. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indication of Bulgarian citizenship, the passport facilitates the process of securing assistance from Bulgarian consular officials abroad or other European Union member states in case a Bulgarian consular is absent, if needed.
Bruneian passports are issued to citizens of Brunei for the purpose of international travel.
The Albanian passport is a travel document issued by the Ministry of Interior to Albanian citizens to enable them to travel abroad. They are also used as proof of identity within the country, along with the Albanian ID card.
The Algerian passport is an international travel document issued to citizens of Algeria, and may also serve as proof of Algerian citizenship. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indication of Algerian citizenship, the passport facilitates the process of securing assistance from Algerian consular officials abroad.
The Ethiopian passport is a travel document issued to citizens of Ethiopia for international travel. The document is a biometric machine-readable passport with a burgundy cover with the text "Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia" above the coat of arms, and the text "passport" below it in Amharic and English. The passport is valid for 5 years and contains 64 pages.
The Nicaraguan passport is issued to citizens of Nicaragua for international travel. As of 1 January 2017, Nicaraguan citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 112 countries and territories, ranking the Nicaraguan passport 46th in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley visa restrictions index.
The Djiboutian passport is issued to citizens of Djibouti for international travel. The document is a biometric machine-readable passport with a blue cover with the text "République de Djibouti" above the coat of arms, and the text "passport" below it in Arabic and French. The passport is valid for 5 years and contains 31 pages. The passport includes the full name, photograph, signature and date of birth of the holder. The newer passports offer better security and state-of-the-art anti forging parameters and have a soft cover.
The Tuvaluan passport is an international travel document that is issued to Tuvaluan citizens subject to Tuvaluan nationality law.
Visa requirements for Bangladeshi citizens are administrative entry restrictions imposed on citizens of Bangladesh by the authorities of other countries.
The Tongan passport is an international travel document that is issued to Tongan citizens.
The Marshallese passport is an international travel document that is issued to Marshallese citizens.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina passport is a passport issued to citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina for international travel.
Micronesian passports are the regular travel document issued by the Federated States of Micronesia to its citizens in order to enable them to travel outside the country.
The Passport Index is an interactive online tool by Arton Capital that provides its users with insights about passports, including the ability to compare and rank the world's passports. Rankings are based on the freedom of movement and visa-free travel open to holders of particular passports. The site allows the display of various territories' passports using a variety of filters such as region and passport cover colour.
The Quality of Nationality Index (QNI) ranks the quality of nationalities based on internal and external factors. Each nationality receives an aggregated score based on economic strength, human development, ease of travel, political stability and overseas employment opportunities for their citizens. The QNI was created by Dimitry Kochenov and Christian Kälin, chairman of Henley & Partners.
The index and its contents are based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and supplemented, enhanced, and updated using extensive in-house research and open-source online data.