World’s most powerful passports in 2023

Henley & Partners has revealed its ranking for the most powerful passports in 2023. For the fifth year running, Japan crowns the Henley Passport Index, which is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

It is the original ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. Japanese citizens are now able to visit an astonishing 193 destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free, while South Koreans and Singaporeans, whose countries are tied in 2^nd place on the index, enjoy a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 192. The UK and the US remain in 6^th and 7^th places, with scores of 187 and 186, respectively, and it appears increasingly unlikely that either country will ever regain the top spot on the index which they jointly held nearly a decade ago in 2014.

The Henley Passport Index measures visa-free access to 227 destinations across the world, which of course makes it an extremely useful tool for travellers.

Dr Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners

With global travel now at around 75% of pre-pandemic levels, those with the opportunity to do so appear to be embracing what has been termed ‘revenge travel’. But deeper analysis of the index reveals the darker side to this optimistic picture. Afghanistan remains firmly at the bottom of the index, with a score of just 27 – 166 fewer visa-free destinations than Japan, which represents the widest global mobility gap in the index’s 18-year history.

Most useful passport in 2023

1. Japan 🇯🇵 (access to 193 destinations)
2. Singapore 🇸🇬, South Korea 🇰🇷 (192)
3. Germany 🇩🇪, Spain 🇪🇸 (190)
4. Finland 🇫🇮, Italy 🇮🇹, Luxembourg 🇱🇺 (189)
5. Austria 🇦🇹, Denmark 🇩🇰, Netherlands 🇳🇱, Sweden 🇸🇪 (188)
6. France 🇫🇷, Ireland 🇮🇪, Portugal 🇵🇹, United Kingdom 🇬🇧 (187)
7. Belgium 🇧🇪, Czech Republic 🇨🇿, New Zealand 🇳🇿, Norway 🇳🇴, Switzerland 🇨🇭, United States 🇺🇸 (186)
8. Australia 🇦🇺, Canada 🇨🇦, Greece 🇬🇷, Malta 🇲🇹 (185)
9. Hungary 🇭🇺, Poland 🇵🇱 (184)
10. Lithuania 🇱🇹, Slovakia 🇸🇰 (183)

Least useful passports in 2023

1. Afghanistan 🇦🇫 (27)
2. Iraq 🇮🇶 (29)
3. Syria 🇸🇾 (30)
4. Pakistan 🇵🇰 (32)
5. Yemen 🇾🇪 (34)
6. Somalia 🇸🇴 (35)
7. Palestinian Territory 🇵🇸, Nepal 🇳🇵 (38)
8. North Korea 🇰🇵 (40)
9. Libya 🇱🇾 (41)