World’s top power-passports in 2022 revealed; here’s full list, India's rank

Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Germany and Spain have the world’s most powerful passports, according to the latest results of the ‘Henley Passport Index: Q3 2022 Global Ranking’.

India is ranked 87th (score of 60) on the list with its passport holders having access to 60 visa-free destinations. Last year, India’s rank was 90 while it was 82 in 2019 and 2020. In 2006, India was at 71, its best in the 17-year history of Henley rankings.

“Indian passport holders now have roughly the same travel freedom as they did pre-pandemic, with unrestricted access to 60 destinations around the world (as opposed to just 23 destinations in 2020),” the report said.

Historical ranking of Indian passport

Also read: Over 9 lakh Indians relinquished citizenship since 2014: Govt data

Afghanistan last

Afghanistan, ranked 112, remains at the bottom of the index, with its nationals only able to access 27 destinations worldwide visa-free.

Japan holds the number one spot on the index — the original ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa — with a record-high visa-free or visa-on-arrival score of 193, while Singapore and South Korea come in joint-second place, with a score of 192.

European Union (EU) member states dominate the rest of the top 10 spots on the latest ranking, with Germany and Spain in joint-third place, with access to 190 destinations visa-free.

Finland, Italy, and Luxembourg follow closely behind in joint-fourth place with 189 destinations, and Denmark, Netherlands, and Sweden share fifth place with their passport holders able to travel to 188 destinations worldwide without a visa.

Both the UK and US have dropped down a rank, to sixth and seventh place, respectively, and Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the index, with its nationals only able to access 27 destinations worldwide visa-free.

Also read: 8,000 high net-worth individuals likely to leave India in 2022: Survey

Peaceful countries have more powerful passports

Unique research conducted by Henley & Partners comparing a country’s visa-free access with its Global Peace Index score shows a strong correlation between a nation’s passport power and its peacefulness. All of the nations sitting in the top 10 of the Henley Passport Index can also be found in the top ten of the Global Peace Index. Likewise, for the bottom ranking nations, the report said.

UAE is pandemic winner

Throughout the turmoil of the past two years, one thing has remained constant: the growing strength of the UAE passport, which now sits at 15th place on the ranking, with a visa-free or visa-on-arrival score of 176. Over the past decade, the country has made unparalleled gains as the biggest climber on the index — in 2012, it sat at 64th place on the rankings, with a score of just 106, the report said.

As the latest Henley Private Wealth Migration Dashboard demonstrates, the UAE has also become the focus of intense interest among affluent investors and is expected to see the highest net influx of High-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) globally in 2022, with a forecast net increase of 4,000 — a dramatic increase of 208% versus 2019’s net inflow of 1,300 and one of its largest on record, it added.

Also read: TCS likely to launch chip-based e-passports by year-end

Russia increasingly isolated

After Russia invaded Ukraine, its passport holders are more cut off from the rest of the world than ever before, as sanctions, travel bans, and airspace closures limit Russian citizens from accessing all but a few destinations in Asia and the Middle East.

The Russian passport currently sits at 50th place on the index, with a visa-free or visa-free on arrival score of 119. However, due to airspace closures in EU member nations, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the US, and the UK, Russian citizens are effectively barred from traveling throughout most of the developed world, with the marked exceptions of Istanbul and Dubai, which have become focal points.

The Ukrainian passport is currently ranked in 35th place on the index, with holders able to access 144 destinations around the world without needing a visa in advance.

How are rankings calculated?

The Henley Passport Index compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations. If no visa is required, then a score with value = 1 is created for that passport. The same applies if you can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the destination.

Where a visa is required, or where a passport holder has to obtain a government-approved electronic visa (e-Visa) before departure, a score with value = 0 is assigned. This also applies if you need pre-departure government approval for a visa on arrival.

The total score for each passport is equal to the number of destinations for which no visa is required (value = 1).

The Henley Passport Index said it is the “original and most authoritative passport index, with historical data spanning 17 years”.

The index and its contents are based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and supplemented, enhanced, and updated using extensive in-house research and open-source online data.

Dr Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, said, “The latest results from the Henley Passport Index are a heartening reminder of the very human desire for global connectivity even as some countries move toward isolationism and autarchy. The shock of the pandemic was unlike anything seen in our lifetimes, and the recovery and reclamation of our travel freedoms, and our innate instinct to move and migrate will take time.”