Earlier this year I wrote about the most powerful passport in the world, which at the time was Germany. While Germany remains a very powerful passport, it is no longer the world’s most powerful. That honor now belongs to a city-state in Southeast Asia.
Thanks to a change in visa law in Paraguay, Singapore now holds the honor of the world’s most powerful passport.
What makes a passport powerful? The number of countries you can access without a pre-arranged visa, meaning no visa is necessary or one can be obtained upon arrival.
The top ten list contains 34 countries, with many countries tied in the rankings. Germany drops from #1 to #2, but remains a very powerful passport. Sweden and South Korea tied for the bronze metal. At 154 accessible countries, the United States ranks #6, along with Malaysia, Ireland, and Canada.
| rank | passport | no. countries accessible |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | 159 |
| 2 | Germany | 158 |
| 3 | Sweden, South Korea | 157 |
| 4 | Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, United Kingdom | 156 |
| 5 | Luxembourg, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Portugal | 155 |
| 6 | Malaysia, Ireland, United States, Canada | 154 |
| 7 | Greece, New Zealand, Australia | 153 |
| 8 | Malta, Czech Republic, Iceland | 152 |
| 9 | Hungary | 150 |
| 10 | Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia | 149 |
Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the list, with only 22 accessible countries (and only three with no visa requirement at all).
CONCLUSION
Check out Passport Index for more details about each country, including which countries offer visa-free travel and visas on arrival for each passport. It is an extremely handy tool.
passport image: ProjectManhattan / Wikimedia Commons
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