Germans have the most powerful passport in the world, whilst Australians have the 8th most powerful. But we’ve been beaten by our neighbours across the Tasman and the Yanks and Brits.
The annual ranking of the world’s most powerful passports – based on visa-free access to foreign countries – has revealed that holding a German passport entitles you to visa-free entry to 177 countries around the world.
To put that in perspective, holding an Afghani passports grants you entry to just 25 countries.
The maximum attainable score for any passport is 218, and the annual report by Henley & Partners – a citizenship and planning firm – is based on visa restrictions that were in place on 1 January.
Here are the 10 most powerful passports in the world, according to the report:
- Germany – 177
- Sweden – 176
- Finland, France, Italy, Spain, UK – 175
- Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, US – 174
- Austria, Japan, Singapore – 173
- Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Switzerland – 172
- Greece, New Zealand – 171
- Australia – 169
- Malta – 168
- Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland – 167
According to Henley & Partners, which has produced an annual index in co-operation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) since 2006:
“Generally, visa requirements reflect strongly on each country’s relationships with others, and will take into account diplomatic relationships between the countries, reciprocal visa arrangements, security risks and the risks of visa and immigration rules violations.”