World Passport Ranking 2020, Henley Passport Index

The passport opens up a whole world of possibilities for those lucky enough to have at least one such document. However, some passports are much more beneficial than others in terms of visa-free travel.

Most people do not have a choice of a passport, since they are citizens of the same country from birth. However, for those who think outside the box and are interested in passports in general, we have compiled a list of the 10 most powerful passports in the world according to the Henley Passport Index.

This International Passport Index provides information on how many sovereign states and destinations in those states a person can visit without applying for a visa.

Content

Henley Passport Index 2020 table

A place	Country	The strength of a passport
1	Japan	191
2	Singapore	190
3	South Korea	189
3	Germany	189
4	Italy	188
4	Finland	188
5	Spain	187
5	Luxembourg	187
5	Denmark	187
6	Sweden	186
6	France	186
7	Switzerland	185
7	Portugal	185
7	Netherlands	185
7	Ireland	185
7	Austria	185
8	United States of America	184
8	United Kingdom	184
8	Norway	184
8	Greece	184
8	Belgium	184
9	New Zealand	183
9	Malta	183
9	Czech	183
9	Canada	183
9	Australia	183
10	Slovakia	181
10	Lithuania	181
10	Hungary	181
11	Slovenia	180
11	Latvia	180
11	Iceland	180
12	Estonia	179
13	Malaysia	178
13	Liechtenstein	178
14	Poland	176
15	Monaco	175
16	Cyprus	174
16	Chile	174
17	Romania	172
18	United Arab Emirates	171
18	Bulgaria	171
19	Brazil	170
19	Argentina	170
20	Hong Kong	169
20	Croatia	169
21	San Marino	168
22	andorra	167
23	Brunei	166
24	Barbados	160
25	Israel	159
26	Mexico	158
27	Saint Kitts and Nevis	154
27	Bahamas	154
28	Uruguay	153
29	Seychelles	151
30	Antigua and Barbuda	150
31	Vatican	149
31	Trinidad and Tobago	149
31	Costa Rica	149
32	Taiwan	146
32	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	146
32	Mauritius	146
33	Saint Lucia	145
34	Macao	144
35	Paraguay	142
35	Grenada	142
36	Panama	140
37	Dominica	139
38	Peru	135
39	Serbia	133
39	Honduras	133
39	Salvador	133
40	Venezuela	132
40	Guatemala	132
41	Solomon islands	131
41	Samoa	131
42	Vanuatu	130
43	Ukraine	128
43	Nicaragua	128
44	Tuvalu	127
44	Colombia	127
45	Tonga	125
46	Montenegro	124
47	North Macedonia	123
48	Marshall Islands	122
48	Kiribati	122
49	Moldova	120
50	Palau Islands	119
51	Russian Federation	118
51	Micronesia	118
52	Bosnia and Herzegovina	117
53	Georgia	116
54	Albania	114
55	Turkey	111
56	South Africa	100
56	Belize	100
57	East Timor	95
57	Kuwait	95
58	Qatar	93
59	Ecuador	91
60	Nauru	88
60	Guyana	88
60	Fiji	88
61	Maldives	85
61	Jamaica	85
62	Papua New Guinea	84
62	Botswana	84
63	Bahrain	82
64	Oman	79
65	Thailand	78
65	Suriname	78
65	Bolivia	78
66	Saudi Arabia	77
67	Namibia	76
67	Kazakhstan	76
68	Belarus	75
69	Lesotho	74
70	Eswatini	73
71	Malawi	72
72	Kenya	71
72	Indonesia	71
72	China	71
73	Zambia	70
73	Tanzania	70
74	Tunisia	69
75	Gambia	68
76	Philippines	67
76	Azerbaijan	67
77	Uganda	66
77	Cape Verde Islands	66
78	Ghana	65
78	Cuba	65
79	Zimbabwe	64
79	Dominican Republic	64
80	Sierra Leone	63
80	Morocco	63
80	Kyrgyzstan	63
81	Mongolia	62
81	Benin	62
81	Armenia	62
82	Sao Tome and Principe	61
82	Mozambique	61
83	Rwanda	59
83	Burkina Faso	59
84	Tajikistan	58
84	Mauritania	58
84	India	58
85	Uzbekistan	57
85	Ivory Coast	57
86	Senegal	56
86	Gabon	56
87	Go	55
87	Guinea	55
88	Vietnam	54
88	Niger	54
88	Mali	54
88	Madagascar	54
88	Cambodia	54
89	Guinea-Bissau	53
89	Equatorial Guinea	53
89	Comoros	53
89	Chad	53
89	Butane	53
90	Turkmenistan	52
91	Jordan	51
91	Central African Republic	51
92	Laos	50
92	Algeria	50
93	Liberia	49
93	Haiti	49
93	Egypt	49
93	Cameroon	49
93	Burundi	49
93	Angola	49
94	Myanmar	47
94	Congo	47
95	Nigeria	46
95	Djibouti	46
96	South Sudan	43
96	Ethiopia	43
97	Sri Lanka	42
98	Iran	41
98	Eritrea	41
98	Congo	41
98	Bangladesh	41
99	Lebanon	40
99	Kosovo	40
100	Sudan	39
100	North Korea	39
101	Palestinian Territory	38
101	Nepal	38
102	Libya	37
103	Yemen	33
104	Somalia	32
104	Pakistan	32
105	Syria	29
106	Iraq	28
107	Afghanistan	26

10. Sweden - 186 countries

This Scandinavian country in Northern Europe is bordered by Norway to the west and Finland to the east.

If you have a Swedish passport, then you have the right to visit 186 countries without a visa.

9. Luxembourg - 187 countries

The ninth number on our list of the best passports of 2020 is Luxembourg, a small European country with access to the sea and bordering Belgium, France and Germany.

A Luxembourg passport means you can travel to 187 countries without a visa. In addition, like France, Luxembourg allows dual citizenship. However, France has one less country for visa-free travel than its smaller “brother” Luxembourg.

8. Denmark - 187 countries

If you are a Danish citizen, you are entitled to travel to 187 countries without a visa. At the same time, there are various options for obtaining passports for citizens of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Danish citizens who reside in Greenland or the Faroe Islands have the option to choose between an EU Danish passport and a local non-EU passport.

7.Spain - 187 countries

To get the coveted Spanish passport, which makes it possible to travel without a visa to 187 countries of the world, you will first have to obtain a residence permit and live in the country for at least 10 years (or 5 - for refugees).

And the Russian passport will have to be abandoned, since only citizens of a limited number of countries are allowed dual citizenship in Spain.

6. Finland - 188 countries

Together with its Scandinavian neighbors, Finland ranks among the countries with the most influential passports in the world.

Citizens with a Finnish passport are entitled to visa-free travel in 188 countries around the world.

Finnish passports are valid for 5 years after issue and every citizen of this country is also a citizen of the European Union.

5.Italy - 188 countries

The Italian passport is the fifth most powerful passport in the world. Like most countries on this list, Italy uses biometric passports to protect against counterfeiting, improve control over the movement of citizens and reduce administrative work.

Italian citizens can apply for a 10-, 5- or 3-year passport, depending on the age of the applicant.

Italian passport holders are not prohibited from dual citizenship.

4. Germany - 189 countries

The German passport is the fourth most powerful passport on our list and allows Germans to travel visa-free to 189 countries around the world.

German passports are valid for 10 years for adults and 6 years for citizens under the age of 24.

3. South Korea - 189 countries

South Korea - one of the most successfully developing countries in the world - is located in East Asia and constitutes the southernmost part of the Korean Peninsula. With the passport of this country, you will not need a visa to enter one of 189 countries of the world.

2. Singapore - 190 countries

The second most powerful passport in the world is issued to citizens of Singapore and allows visa-free travel to 190 countries.

Singapore passports are generally valid for five years. Their prestige also has a downside - they are a frequent target for criminals who forge documents.

1. Japan - 191 countries

For the third year in a row, Japan has become the country with the most powerful passport in the world. Its citizens are allowed to cross the border of 191 countries either without a preliminary visa or without a visa upon arrival.

If you are interested in obtaining a Japanese passport, then all you need is to live in the country of cherry blossoms for at least five years before starting the formal process of obtaining citizenship.

There are also a number of other ways to become a citizen of Japan, such as marriage and investment, but think carefully before doing this, as Japanese law obliges its citizens to renounce other nationalities.

Least influential passports ranked

At the other end of the spectrum of the 2020 Henley Passport Index are:

Pakistan - 32 countries;
Somalia - 32 countries;
Syria - 29 countries;
Iraq - 28 countries;
Afghanistan - 26 countries without a visa.

Most of the countries with the least quoted passports have experienced political instability over the years.

And the country, which is at the end of the passport index, has serious problems with both its sovereignty and geopolitical problems and the rule of law.

Russia's place in Henley Passport Index 2020

The Russians may not have the most powerful passport in the world, but things are not bad with visa-free entry.

Without a prior visa or visa upon arrival, Russians can visit 118 countries, and share 51 with Micronesia.

Amazing Winner: UAE

Over the past ten years, the UAE passport has climbed 47 places in the ranking of the best passports in the world. Despite the fact that it did not make it into the top ten, getting into 18th place with 171 visa-free countries is also very prestigious.

How can you explain such a leap up? According to Paddy Blever, director of public relations at Henley Passport, the UAE's movement to the top of the visa-free list is the result of the country's internationalization and positioning itself as one of the global business centers and global business heavyweights.

Can you buy a more powerful passport?

More than half of the countries in the world have an investment citizenship program. Such European countries as Malta and Cyprus are included in top 10 most popular countries where you can officially buy citizenship.

Cyprus, for example, offers citizenship for a minimum of € 2 million in real estate investments.

According to Blever, the interest in obtaining the citizenship of a country with a strong passport comes mainly from people living in those states whose passports are not very popular.

However, sometimes residents of the UK, Germany, or the United States seek alternative citizenship. Blver explains this by the fact that such people can work in countries where kidnappings often occur. And the risk of being kidnapped is reduced if you enter a country posing as a citizen of a not too rich country. Or not the country that the local population has a grudge against.