According to the Henley Passport Index, Singapore’s passport has once again become the most powerful in the world, granting visa-free entry to 195 countries. However Singapore got a tough fight from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain all giving free visas to 192 destinations
It's noteworthy that in 2014, the UK and USA jointly held first place in passport strength but have since declined in rankings. Also, the Canadian passport has become stronger than last year, ranking 7 for the first time ever.
(@grayruby's comment please)
India, the fastest growing major economy, has climbed up to 82nd place notably.
Let's have a look at the top 5 and the bottom 5 rankings-
Global Passport Rankings (Top 5)
1st Place: Singapore – 195 destinations
Joint 2nd Place: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain – 192 destinations
Joint 3rd Place: Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea,
Sweden – 191 destinations
4th Place: UK, Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland – 190 destinations
5th Place: Australia and Portugal — 189 destinations
Global Passport Rankings (Bottom 5)
103rd Place: Afghanistan — 26
destinations
102nd Place: Syria — 28 destinations
101st Place: Iraq — 31 destinations
100th place: Pakistan and Yemen — 33 destinations
99th Place: Somalia — 35 destinations
Noteworthy Climbs and Drops
UAE: Rose from 62nd to 9th, now with access to 185 destinations.
China: Improved from 83rd to 59th, gaining access to 85 destinations.
Ukraine: Jumped from 53rd to 30th with access to 148 destinations.
Venezuela: Dropped from 25th to 42nd.
Other countries like Yemen, Nigeria, and Syria also experienced declines.
Bangladesh fell from 86th to 97th.
Here's a Screenshot of the full list (Kindly Zoom in the images)
The Henley Passport Index is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom allowed by those countries' ordinary passports for their citizens. The index annually ranks 199 passports of the world by the number of countries that their holders can travel to without requiring a visa. 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 Timatic documentation requirements database.
Source: Wikipedia
Where's ~charts_and_numbers??
CC: @OneOneSeven
