According to the most recent Henley Passport Index ranking, Japan has fallen from first to third place on the index for the first time in five years. Singapore’s citizens can now visit 192 of the world’s 227 tourist destinations without a visa, making it the most powerful passport in the world.
Germany, Italy, and Spain all move up into 2nd place with visa-free access to 190 destinations, and Japanese passport holders join those of six other nations — Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden — in 3rd place with access to189 destinations without a prior visa. The UK appears to have finally turned the corner after a six-year decline, jumping up two places on the latest ranking to 4th place — a position it last held in 2017.
The US, on the other hand, continues its now decade-long slide down the index, plummeting a further two places to 8th spot with access to just 184 destinations visa-free. Both the UK and the US jointly held 1st place on the index nearly 10 years ago in 2014 but have been on a downward trajectory ever since.
Afghanistan remains entrenched at the bottom of the Henley Passport Index, with a visa-free access score of just 27, followed by Iraq (score of 29), and Syria (score of 30) — the three weakest passports in the world.
Indian passport is ranked 80th in 2023 with access to 57 visa-free destinations.
The general trend over the history of the 18-year-old ranking has been towards greater travel freedom, with the average number of destinations travelers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023. However, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than it has ever been, with top-ranked Singapore able to access 165 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan.
Henley & Partners has conducted exclusive new research into the relationship between a country’s openness to foreigners — how many nations it allows to cross its borders visa-free — and its own citizens’ travel freedom, gauged using the Henley Passport Index. The new Henley Openness Index ranks all 199 countries worldwide according to the number of nationalities they permit entry to without a prior visa.
Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, points out in the Henley Global Mobility Report 2023 Q3 that countries with welcoming, open-door visa policies can help forge links with other nations to secure, and in turn grant valuable visa-waivers.
Visa-policy is a significant lever that governments can use to positively impact and improve their passport’s power, making it even more attractive for foreign investors seeking citizenship or residence by investment opportunities. For entrepreneurs and businesspeople, improving their economic mobility through visa-free access to more stable economies and key markets that represent a higher proportion of the world’s GDP, provides them with a pathway to lucrative jurisdictions, helps mitigate country- or regional-specific risks, and enables them to build valuable partnerships with industry leaders, and expand their own network of innovators and investors.