The Passport Index

Last updated
The Passport Index
Type of site
Service
Owner Arton Capital
URL www.passportindex.org
Launched2014;10 years ago (2014)

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. [1] [2] [3] The site allows the display of various territories' passports using a variety of filters such as region and passport cover colour. [4]

Contents

World Openness Score

The World Openness Score is a measure or index that tracks the ability of the world's population to travel visa-free. It grew from 17,904 to 20,143 between 2015 and August 2018. [5] But due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the index fell to about 13,000. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, it rose again. In 2022, the index was nearly 22,000.

Methodology

The Passport Index compares passports mainly on their visa-free travel options, but also on how welcoming the countries are to visiting foreigners. In its ranking, The Passport Index looks at 193 United Nations member countries and six territories, which include ROC Taiwan, Macao (SAR China), Hong Kong (SAR China), Kosovo, Palestinian Territory and the Vatican. Territories annexed to other countries such as Norfolk Island (Australia), French Polynesia (France), British Virgin Islands (Britain) are excluded. [6] [7]

Visa-free Score

The Passport Index ranks passports based on a "total visa-free score," which assigns passports a point for each country their holders can visit without a visa, with a visa on arrival or by obtaining electronic travel authorization (ETA). The country with the highest visa-free score has the most powerful passport. [8]

Welcoming Score

The Passport Index awards one point to each country's passport which allows its bearer to enter visa-free or with visa on arrival. The country with the highest welcoming score is the most welcoming country in the world.

World Openness Score

The World Openness Score is a measure that reflects the travel openness between countries. It has grown from 17,904 to 18,680 between 2015 and August 2017. On 21 November 2018 it had reached 20,189.

Global Mobility Score

The Global Mobility Score is a benchmark that shows an individual's level of freedom of global mobility reflecting one or more passports in their possession. Higher scores reflect increased freedom of mobility.

Ranking

Results

Passport Index rankings are in real-time and continue to vary as new changes to visa agreements are made. For the most part, the Top 10 places have been occupied by European countries with the exception of Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

Between 2017 and 2018, at top of the list with a visa-free score of 165 were Singapore and Germany, while the United States of America, South Korea, France, Denmark and Sweden were among the 11 countries that shared the second spot with a score of 164. The UAE passport now takes first place with a visa-free score of 179, in 2024. [9] [10]

Table

Scores and rankings are from the 2022 World Openness Score. [11] [12]

CountryScoreRank
Afghanistan38101
Albania11547
Algeria6481
Andorra15713
Angola6382
Antigua and Barbuda14026
Argentina16012
Armenia7768
Australia1714
Austria1732
Azerbaijan8065
Bahamas14621
Bahrain9653
Bangladesh4996
Barbados15217
Belarus9157
Belgium1723
Belize9852
Benin6877
Bhutan6679
Bolivia8561
Bosnia and Herzegovina11846
Botswana8660
Brazil16111
Brunei15316
Bulgaria1678
Burkina Faso6778
Burundi5887
Cambodia6976
Cameroon5986
Canada1705
Cape Verde7570
Central African Republic6184
Chad6283
Chile16012
China8362
Colombia13629
Comoros6382
Congo5788
Congo (Dem. Rep.)5590
Costa Rica14125
Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)6778
Croatia1678
Cuba7867
Cyprus1678
Czech Republic1714
Denmark1723
Djibouti6085
Dominica13233
Dominican Republic8164
Ecuador10151
Egypt6580
El Salvador12836
Equatorial Guinea6580
Eritrea5293
Estonia1696
Eswatini7966
Ethiopia5392
Fiji9653
Finland1732
France1732
Gabon6877
Gambia7273
Georgia12539
Germany1732
Ghana7273
Greece1714
Grenada13530
Guatemala12836
Guinea6481
Guyana9355
Haiti6382
Honduras12935
Hong Kong15614
Hungary1714
Iceland1687
India7372
Indonesia8561
Iran5194
Iraq4099
Ireland1723
Israel15118
Italy1732
Jamaica9653
Japan1714
Jordan6580
Kazakhstan8859
Kenya7471
Kiribati12440
Kosovo5689
Kuwait10550
Kyrgyzstan7273
Laos6382
Latvia1696
Lebanon5590
Lesotho8263
Liberia6085
Libya5095
Liechtenstein1687
Lithuania1705
Luxembourg1732
Macao13827
Madagascar6778
Malawi7867
Malaysia1659
Maldives9454
Mali6382
Malta1705
Marshall Islands12440
Mauritania6481
Mauritius13530
Mexico15019
Micronesia12044
Moldova12143
Monaco16310
Mongolia7669
Montenegro12638
Morocco7768
Mozambique6679
Namibia8065
Nauru9058
Nepal5590
Netherlands1732
New Zealand1723
Nicaragua12242
Niger6481
Nigeria5590
North Korea5095
North Macedonia12836
Norway1723
Oman9256
Pakistan4692
Palau11945
Palestinian Territories5095
Panama13332
Papua New Guinea8362
Paraguay13728
Peru14522
Philippines7669
Poland1723
Portugal1723
Qatar10948
Romania1678
Russian Federation12440
Rwanda7075
Saint Kitts and Nevis14324
Saint Lucia13629
Samoa12836
San Marino15515
Sao Tome and Principe7273
Saudi Arabia9256
Senegal6778
Serbia13629
Seychelles14125
Sierra Leone6877
Singapore1705
Slovakia1705
Slovenia1696
Solomon Islands13134
Somalia4498
South Africa10649
South Korea1732
South Sudan5392
Spain1732
Sri Lanka5590
Sudan5491
Suriname8561
Sweden1732
Switzerland1732
Syria39100
Taiwan13431
Tajikistan6976
Tanzania7273
Thailand9454
Togo6481
Tonga12440
Trinidad and Tobago13827
Tunisia8362
Turkey12341
Turkmenistan6382
Tuvalu12737
Uganda7174
Ukraine14522
United Arab Emirates1771
United Kingdom1714
United States of America1723
Uruguay14720
Uzbekistan7273
Vanuatu9852
Vatican City14522
Venezuela12440
Vietnam6976
Yemen4597
Zambia7471
Zimbabwe6877

Case studies

United Arab Emirates

In 2017, The Passport Index was assigned to monitor the development of the newly launched UAE Passport Force Initiative, with the aim to position the Emirati passport on the list of the five most powerful passports in the world by 2021. By 31 October 2018, the Emirati passport had already reached fourth place. [13]

However in 2021, the passport's power trend dropped secondary to the COVID pandemic. [14]

Background

The Passport Index was launched by Arton Capital, a financial services firm with a head office in Montreal, Canada, in 2014. [15] [16] [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ "The Passport Index: Which countries are easy to visit?". Al Jazeera. 2017-03-05. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  2. ↑ Lagerquist, Jeff (February 21, 2018). "Where does Canada rank on the list of world's most powerful passports?". CTVnews.
  3. ↑ Greenspan, Rachel (September 6, 2018). "These Countries Have the Most Powerful Passports in the World".
  4. ↑ Swanson, Ana (April 15, 2015). "A ranking of the world's 'most powerful' passports". The Washington Post .
  5. ↑ "World Openness Score". Arton Capital. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  6. 1 2 Cripps, Karla (25 October 2017). "Singapore now offers the world's most powerful passport". CNN.
  7. ↑ "PH passport is 67th most 'powerful' in the world". CBN News. January 11, 2018.
  8. ↑ Trimble, Megan (October 25, 2017). "Countries With the Most Powerful Passports for Travel". US News. Archived from the original on 2017-10-26.
  9. ↑ "World Openness Score - Visa-Free Trends | Passport Index 2022". Passport Index - Global Mobility Intelligence. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  10. ↑ "Classificação global de poder do passaporte 2024 | Passport Index 2024". Passport Index - Global Mobility Intelligence (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  11. ↑ "World Openness Score - Visa-Free Trends | Passport Index 2022". Passport Index - Global Mobility Intelligence. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  12. ↑ "Global Passport Power Rank 2022 | Passport Index 2022". Passport Index - Global Mobility Intelligence. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  13. ↑ "UAE passport now world's 4th most powerful". Khaleej times. 31 October 2018.
  14. ↑ "Passport Index Trend". Passport Index. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  15. ↑ "Die besten Pässe für Vielreisende". Der Spiegel (in German). 16 April 2014.
  16. ↑ Caline Malek (2017-08-31). "UAE awarded for having most powerful passport in GCC". The National . Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  17. ↑ Khalil, Edin. "UAE passport ranks number one globally". www.gulftoday.ae. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
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