The rating of the strongest passports of the world for the third quarter of 2023 literally «shook». According to an analysis conducted by consulting firm Henley & Partners, the Japanese passport for the first time in 5 years lost leadership, but there are countries that were in the top three for the first time. The rating results are in the article.

Countries with the lowest and highest upward movement

For the first time in five years, Japan ceased to top the ranking of the world’s strongest passports and turned up in third place.

The three leaders of the strongest passports in the third quarter of 2023 are following:

  • 1st place — Singapore — its citizens can visit 193 countries (out of 227 analyzed). 
  • 2nd place — Germany, Italy and Spain — with visa-free access in 190 countries. 
  • 3rd place — Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, France, Sweden, South Korea and Japan — their holders can travel without a visa to 189 countries.

The general trend over the 18-year history of the rating is that the number of visa-free destinations for all countries has been steadily increasing from year to year. The average number of countries over the years almost doubled, from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023. At the same time, the gap in the capabilities of passports of different countries increased too. Holders of passports of Singapore can visit 166 countries without a visa more than the citizens of Afghanistan, which occupies the last, 103rd place (27 visa-free destinations).

Of all the countries in the top ten, the US for the last 10 years of observations made the least movement — only 12 new visa-free destinations from 2013 to 2023. In comparison, Singapore opened 25 new visa-free countries to its citizens and secured a jump of five points up.

Former career diplomat and senior employee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Annie Pforzheimer notes that the stagnation of the US is likely to remain «due to the lack of demand for policy changes within the country, due to political risks associated with the movements of terrorists and the fact that tourism grew after the pandemic, despite visa restrictions». The expert believes that the status quo over time «can contribute to the weakening of the so-called „soft power“ of the USA, if companies will be difficult to invite partners, tourists will face bureaucratic obstacles, and open xenophobia will undermine the reputation of the USA as a world leader».

The top 10 best and worst countries to live and work abroad in 2023. The latest statistics

Visa-free access and country openness

Henley & Partners has conducted research to identify the relationship between a country’s openness to foreigners and the freedom of movement of its own citizens. The new Henley Openness Index ranks 199 countries worldwide by the number of nationalities that can visit them without a visa.

The top 20 «most open» countries include all small island states or African states. There are only 12 countries that offer visa-free entry or entry upon arrival to all 198 countries worldwide (excluding their own): Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Maldives, Micronesia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Samoa, Seychelles, Timor-Leste and Tuvalu.

At the bottom of the Henley Openness Index, four countries scored zero, not allowing visa-free access to anyone: Afghanistan, North Korea, Papua New Guinea and Turkmenistan. They are followed by five countries that grant visa-free access to less than five countries and they are: Libya, Bhutan, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea and India.