Politics

Ranked: The World’s Most and Least Powerful Passports in 2023

Published

2 years ago

February 13, 2023

Avery Koop

most and least powerful passports

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Ranked: The World’s Most and Least Powerful Passports

Depending on your passport, travel can be as simple as just booking flights, finding a hotel, and, then simply going.

But for many across the world, it’s not that easy—a number of passport holders need to obtain a travel/tourist visa prior to arrival. These visas typically require approval from the destination country’s government that can take weeks or months.

Japanese passport holders, for example, are able to visit 193 countries without pre-approval (nearly every country on Earth). Afghans, on the other hand, can only visit 27 countries with the same level of ease.

This ranking uses data from Henley & Partners, which determines the number of countries to which a passport holder has visa-free access.

The World’s Passports

First let’s look at every country’s position in the ranking in the table below:

Rank	Passport	Number of Countries Allowing Visa-Free Access
#1	🇯🇵 Japan	193
#1	🇸🇬 Singapore	193
#3	🇰🇷 South Korea	192
#4	🇩🇪 Germany	191
#4	🇪🇸 Spain	191
#6	🇫🇮 Finland	190
#6	🇮🇹 Italy	190
#6	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	190
#9	🇦🇹 Austria	189
#9	🇩🇰 Denmark	189
#9	🇳🇱 Netherlands	189
#9	🇸🇪 Sweden	189
#13	🇫🇷 France	188
#13	🇮🇪 Ireland	188
#13	🇵🇹 Portugal	188
#13	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	188
#17	🇧🇪 Belgium	187
#17	🇨🇿 Czechia	187
#17	🇳🇿 New Zealand	187
#17	🇳🇴 Norway	187
#17	🇨🇭 Switzerland	187
#17	🇺🇸 United States	187
#23	🇦🇺 Australia	186
#23	🇨🇦 Canada	186
#23	🇬🇷 Greece	186
#23	🇲🇹 Malta	186
#27	🇭🇺 Hungary	185
#27	🇵🇱 Poland	185
#29	🇱🇹 Lithuania	184
#29	🇸🇰 Slovakia	184
#31	🇱🇻 Latvia	183
#31	🇸🇮 Slovenia	183
#33	🇪🇪 Estonia	182
#34	🇮🇸 Iceland	181
#35	🇲🇾 Malaysia	180
#36	🇱🇮 Liechtenstein	179
#37	🇨🇾 Cyprus	178
#37	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	178
#39	🇷🇴 Romania	176
#40	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	175
#40	🇨🇱 Chile	175
#40	🇭🇷 Croatia	175
#40	🇲🇨 Monaco	175
#44	🇭🇰 Hong Kong (SAR China)	172
#45	🇦🇷 Argentina	171
#46	🇧🇷 Brazil	170
#46	🇸🇲 San Marino	170
#48	🇦🇩 Andorra	169
#49	🇧🇳 Brunei	167
#50	🇧🇧 Barbados	162
#51	🇮🇱 Israel	160
#51	🇲🇽 Mexico	160
#53	🇰🇳 St. Kitts and Nevis	156
#54	🇧🇸 Bahamas	155
#55	🇻🇦 Vatican City	154
#56	🇸🇨 Seychelles	153
#56	🇺🇾 Uruguay	153
#58	🇻🇨 St. Vincent and the Grenadines	151
#59	🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda	150
#59	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	150
#59	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	150
#62	🇲🇺 Mauritius	146
#63	🇱🇨 St. Lucia	146
#63	🇹🇼 Taiwan	146
#65	🇬🇩 Grenada	145
#66	🇩🇲 Dominica	144
#66	🇲🇴 Macao (SAR China)	144
#66	🇺🇦 Ukraine	144
#69	🇵🇦 Panama	143
#70	🇵🇾 Paraguay	141
#71	🇷🇸 Serbia	137
#72	🇵🇪 Peru	136
#73	🇨🇴 Colombia	133
#73	🇬🇹 Guatemala	133
#73	🇭🇳 Honduras	133
#76	🇸🇻 El Salvador	132
#77	🇼🇸 Samoa	131
#77	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	131
#79	🇹🇴 Tonga	129
#80	🇻🇪 Venezuela	128
#81	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	127
#81	🇹🇻 Tuvalu	127
#83	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	125
#84	🇲🇪 Montenegro	124
#85	🇰🇮 Kiribati	123
#86	🇲🇭 Marshall Islands	122
#87	🇲🇩 Moldova	120
#88	🇵🇼 Palau Islands	119
#89	🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina	118
#89	🇫🇲 Micronesia	118
#89	🇷🇺 Russia	118
#92	🇦🇱 Albania	115
#92	🇬🇪 Georgia	115
#94	🇹🇷 Türkiye	111
#95	🇿🇦 South Africa	106
#96	🇧🇿 Belize	102
#97	🇶🇦 Qatar	100
#98	🇰🇼 Kuwait	97
#98	🇻🇺 Vanuatu	97
#100	🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	94
#101	🇪🇨 Ecuador	92
#102	🇲🇻 Maldives	89
#102	🇳🇷 Nauru	89
#104	🇧🇭 Bahrain	87
#104	🇫🇯 Fiji	87
#104	🇬🇾 Guyana	87
#107	🇧🇼 Botswana	86
#107	🇯🇲 Jamaica	86
#109	🇴🇲 Oman	82
#109	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	82
#109	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	82
#112	🇨🇳 China	81
#113	🇧🇾 Belarus	79
#113	🇧🇴 Bolivia	79
#113	🇹🇭 Thailand	79
#116	🇳🇦 Namibia	78
#117	🇱🇸 Lesotho	77
#117	🇸🇷 Suriname	77
#119	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	75
#120	🇸🇿 Eswatini	74
#121	🇲🇼 Malawi	73
#122	🇮🇩 Indonesia	72
#122	🇰🇪 Kenya	72
#124	🇹🇿 Tanzania	71
#124	🇹🇳 Tunisia	71
#126	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	70
#126	🇿🇲 Zambia	70
#128	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	69
#129	🇬🇲 The Gambia	68
#130	🇵🇭 Philippines	67
#131	🇺🇬 Uganda	66
#132	🇦🇲 Armenia	65
#132	🇨🇻 Cape Verde Islands	65
#132	🇲🇦 Morocco	65
#132	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	65
#136	🇨🇺 Cuba	64
#136	🇬🇭 Ghana	64
#136	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	64
#139	🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	63
#140	🇲🇳 Mongolia	61
#140	🇲🇿 Mozambique	61
#142	🇧🇯 Benin	60
#142	🇮🇳 India	60
#142	🇷🇼 Rwanda	60
#145	🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	59
#145	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	59
#145	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	59
#148	🇲🇷 Mauritania	58
#149	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	57
#150	🇨🇮 Cote d'Ivoire	56
#150	🇬🇦 Gabon	56
#150	🇸🇳 Senegal	56
#153	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	55
#153	🇬🇳 Guinea	55
#153	🇻🇳 Vietnam	55
#156	🇰🇭 Cambodia	54
#156	🇲🇬 Madagascar	54
#156	🇹🇬 Togo	54
#159	🇪🇬 Egypt	53
#159	🇯🇴 Jordan	53
#159	🇲🇱 Mali	53
#159	🇳🇪 Niger	53
#163	🇩🇿 Algeria	52
#163	🇧🇹 Bhutan	52
#163	🇨🇫 Central African Republic	52
#163	🇹🇩 Chad	52
#163	🇰🇲 Comoros	52
#163	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	52
#163	🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	52
#170	🇨🇲 Cameroon	51
#171	🇦🇴 Angola	50
#171	🇱🇦 Laos	50
#173	🇧🇮 Burundi	49
#173	🇨🇬 Congo (Rep.)	49
#173	🇱🇷 Liberia	49
#176	🇩🇯 Djibouti	48
#176	🇭🇹 Haiti	48
#178	🇲🇲 Myanmar	47
#179	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	46
#179	🇳🇬 Nigeria	46
#181	🇪🇷 Eritrea	44
#181	🇮🇷 Iran	44
#181	🇸🇸 South Sudan	44
#184	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	42
#184	🇸🇩 Sudan	42
#186	🇽🇰 Kosovo	41
#186	🇱🇧 Lebanon	41
#186	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	41
#189	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	40
#189	🇱🇾 Libya	40
#189	🇰🇵 North Korea	40
#192	🇵🇸 Palestine	38
#193	🇳🇵 Nepal	37
#194	🇸🇴 Somalia	35
#195	🇾🇪 Yemen	34
#196	🇵🇰 Pakistan	32
#197	🇸🇾 Syria	30
#198	🇮🇶 Iraq	29
#199	Afghanistan	27

Visas are imposed by some countries to make it easier to track visitors, allowing a country to assess whether said passport-holder may be a risk for illegal immigration, crime, acts of terror, or covert surveillance.

For example, both Russia and China require American passport holders to obtain visas prior to travel, and vice versa.

The Most Powerful Passports

When it comes to the most powerful passports, most of the top 20 are issued by countries in Asia or Europe, with the exception of New Zealand and the United States.

Due to multiple ties in the rankings the U.S. technically ranks 17th, having visa-free access to 187 countries, on par with Norway, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

Ranking 66th, Ukraine’s passport has actually seen drastic improvement over the last decade, currently getting visa-free access to 144 countries. It has yet to be seen how this will change in the wake of the Russia/Ukraine conflict.

The Least Powerful Passports

Many of least powerful passports come out of war-torn and politically unstable nations. As visas for travel are typically required to counter illicit activity, these nations are often flagged whether justly or not.

One immediate standout among the least powerful passports is North Korea. The insular nation has visa-free access to 40 countries, ranking it above eight other passports on the list.

Most North Koreans who travel abroad do so only in extremely special circumstances for work, study, or athletic competitions. Leisure travel out of North Korea does not happen, but technically, North Koreans can visit countries like Haiti, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Palestine, and Kyrgyzstan, among others without a visa.

The Biggest Gainers & Losers Over Time

From a big picture standpoint, the world’s travelers have seen their access improve significantly over the last 10 years. If you’re a citizen of the UAE, for example, your prospects for visa-free travel have improved by 100+ countries over the last decade.

most and least powerful passports

Here’s a closer look at 15 countries with the greatest change in visa-free access:

Rank	Country	2013 Visa-Free Access	2023 Visa-Free Access	10 Year Change
#1	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	72	178	+106
#2	🇨🇴 Colombia	63	133	+70
#3	🇺🇦 Ukraine	77	144	+67
#4	🇲🇩 Moldova	59	120	+61
#5	🇻🇨 St. Vincent and the Grenadines	92	151	+59
#6	🇩🇲 Dominica	87	144	+57
#6	🇬🇩 Grenada	88	145	+57
#8	🇵🇪 Peru	80	136	+56
#9	🇬🇪 Georgia	60	115	+55
#10	🇱🇨 St. Lucia	94	146	+52
#11	🇼🇸 Samoa	81	131	+50
#11	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	100	150	+50
#13	🇹🇴 Tonga	80	129	+49
#14	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	84	131	+47
#15	🇭🇷 Croatia	129	175	+46

On the other hand, other countries have fared poorly, with some actually losing access to destinations since 2013. Yemen and Syria are tied for first place, having lost visa-free access to nine countries over the last 10 years.

Here’s a look at 15 countries who experienced the biggest negative change:

Rank	Country	2013 Visa-Free Access	2023 Visa-Free Access	10 Year Change
#1	🇾🇪 Yemen	43	34	-9
#1	🇸🇾 Syria	39	30	-9
#3	🇳🇬 Nigeria	48	46	-2
#3	🇮🇶 Iraq	31	29	-2
#5	🇰🇵 North Korea	41	40	-1
#5	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	41	40	-1
#5	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	28	27	-1
#8	🇻🇪 Venezuela	128	128	0
#8	🇬🇲 The Gambia	68	68	0
#8	🇵🇰 Pakistan	32	32	0
#8	🇳🇪 Niger	53	53	0
#8	🇳🇵 Nepal	37	37	0
#8	🇲🇱 Mali	53	53	0
#14	🇹🇬 Togo	53	54	+1
#14	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	63	64	+1

Looking at the tables above, it’s apparent that the world has generally become more open in recent years.

Overall, the power of a passport is almost directly reflective of the political state of the world. World powers and rich nations typically have free flow of travel, but those facing instability or war are often also face barriers when wanting to go abroad.