The Most Powerful Passports in 2022 - The Passport's Index

It’s not British or American. The United Arab Emirates’ passport is now the world’s most powerful, according to CEOWORLD magazine’s Global Passport Ranking for 2022. This was followed by FINLAND, ITALY, GERMANY, SWEDEN, DENMARK, AUSTRIA, LUXEMBOURG, SWITZERLAND, and SOUTH KOREA. The United Arab Emirates passport was deemed ‘the world’s most powerful for 2022. The UAE passport holders can now enter 160 destinations around the world visa-free, according to the index, which ranks the strength of 199 passports.

Even though the United States is further down the ranking, the American passport still yields considerable power. U.S. passport holders can travel to 149 countries without major restrictions. And the worst?

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Afghanistan finished the bottom of the Global Passport Ranking, with just 34 countries granting Afghans entry without obtaining an advance visa, according to the research findings. Passports have different colors, designs and shades but there is a lot more to a passport than that. Not all passports have the same power around the world. Every passport has a different status. Some passports afford their bearers more freedom than others.

The Europe Countries dominated on the list again

Further down the top 10, South Korea is still tied alongside Germany in second place, with a score of 190, and Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Spain are all together in third place, with a score of 189.

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While Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, and Sweden share fourth place, with a score of 188, France has slipped down to fifth place.

The UK, which dropped all remaining Covid-19 related restrictions last month, has moved up one place to number five, sitting alongside France, as well as Ireland and Portugal, with a score of 117.

The United States stays at number six, with a score of 186, sharing the position with Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland.

There's no change at number seven, with Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, and Malta staying together again, with a score of 185.

In eighth place, Hungary sits alone, with a score of 183, while Poland has slid from eight to ninth on the list, sharing the spot with Lithuania and Slovakia, with a score of 182. Estonia, Latvia, and Slovenia round out the top ten, with a score of 181.

 The best passports to hold in 2022 are:

1. Japan, Singapore (192 destinations)
2. Germany, South Korea (190)
3. Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain (189)
4. Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden (188)
5. France, Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom (187)
6. Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States (186)
7. Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Malta (185)
8. Hungary (183)
9. Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia (182)
10. Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia (181)

The Global Passport Power Rank (List) 2022

So powerful passports mean that the countries are ranked in one order and they accept visa-free or visa on arrival. Let’s now get a quick look at some of the most powerful passports in the world:

Key Findings of the report

The report also reveals that, there was the widest recorded global mobility gap since the index was created 17 years ago.

Passport holders of two Asian nations, Japan and Singapore, can now enter 192 destinations worldwide visa-free. It is 166 more than Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been listed at the bottom of this index.

Global Passport Power Rank 2022

RANK	COUNTRY	MOBILITY SCORE	VISA-FREE + eTA	VISA ON ARRIVAL	VISA REQUIRED
1	UNITED ARAB EMIRATES	167	113	54	31
2	GERMANY	163	119	44	35
3	SWEDEN	163	118	45	35
4	FINLAND	163	118	45	35
5	ITALY	163	113	50	35
6	SOUTH KOREA	152	107	45	46
7	DENMARK	162	117	45	36
8	AUSTRIA	162	117	45	36
9	LUXEMBOURG	162	117	45	36
10	SPAIN	162	117	45	36
11	NETHERLANDS	162	116	46	36
12	BELGIUM	162	116	46	36
13	JAPAN	162	114	48	36
14	POLAND	162	114	48	36
15	NEW ZEALAND	162	108	54	36
16	AUSTRALIA	162	106	56	32
17	PORTUGAL	161	116	45	37
18	SWITZERLAND	161	113	48	34
19	NORWAY	161	108	42	48
20	HUNGARY	161	113	48	37
21	UNITED STATES	161	109	52	37
22	SINGAPORE	160	124	36	38
23	GREECE	149	108	41	49
24	SLOVAKIA	149	106	43	49
25	IRELAND	149	105	44	49
26	UNITED KINGDOM	149	105	44	49
27	FRANCE	150	111	39	48
28	CZECH REPUBLIC	150	109	41	48
29	MALTA	150	109	41	48
30	ESTONIA	148	107	41	50
31	LITHUANIA	148	107	41	50
32	LATVIA	148	107	41	50
33	ICELAND	148	106	42	50
34	SLOVENIA	148	106	42	50
35	CANADA	148	104	44	50
36	LIECHTENSTEIN	147	104	43	51
37	CROATIA	146	104	41	52
38	CYPRUS	145	112	38	53
39	ROMANIA	145	107	42	53
40	BULGARIA	144	103	43	54
41	MONACO	144	101	44	54
42	CHILE	138	100	44	60
43	ARGENTINA	138	94	44	60
44	SAN MARINO	137	97	40	61
45	ANDORRA	136	90	46	62
46	HONG KONG	133	101	32	65
47	MALAYSIA	133	93	40	65
48	ISRAEL	131	93	38	67
49	BRAZIL	131	88	43	67
50	VATICAN CITY	129	88	41	69
51	URUGUAY	127	84	43	71
52	UKRAINE	127	82	45	71
53	MEXICO	126	80	46	72
54	BARBADOS	123	89	34	75
55	BRUNEI	123	80	45	75
56	PERU	123	78	36	75
57	BAHAMAS	119	83	36	79
58	MACAO	119	81	38	79
59	TAIWAN	118	72	46	80
60	SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS	117	83	34	81
61	COLOMBIA	117	75	42	81
62	PANAMA	116	74	42	82
63	COSTA RICA	116	73	43	82
64	ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA	115	80	35	83
65	SERBIA	115	73	42	83
66	SEYCHELLES	113	81	32	85
67	ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES	113	80	33	85
68	TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO	112	78	34	86
69	NORTH MACEDONIA	112	68	44	86
70	PARAGUAY	111	65	46	87
71	EL SALVADOR	109	68	41	89
72	GEORGIA	109	65	44	89
73	MAURITIUS	108	76	32	90
74	GRENADA	108	74	34	90
75	RUSSIA	108	69	39	90
76	MONTENEGRO	108	63	45	90
77	SAINT LUCIA	107	72	35	91
78	VENEZUELA	107	60	47	91
79	MOLDOVA	106	63	43	92
80	DOMINICA	105	70	35	93
81	VANUATU	105	67	38	93
82	TURKEY	105	62	43	93
83	SOLOMON ISLANDS	103	66	37	95
84	HONDURAS	102	61	41	96
85	ALBANIA	102	60	42	96
86	TONGA	101	63	38	97
87	SAMOA	101	62	39	97
88	TUVALU	99	63	36	99
89	GUATEMALA	99	58	41	99
90	NICARAGUA	99	56	43	99
91	BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA	97	56	41	101
92	KIRIBATI	96	58	38	102
93	MARSHALL ISLANDS	94	53	41	104
94	QATAR	93	54	39	105
95	SOUTH AFRICA	91	54	37	107
96	MICRONESIA	90	49	41	108
97	PALAU	89	46	43	109
98	KUWAIT	87	46	41	111
99	ECUADOR	86	41	45	112
100	BELIZE	85	53	32	113
101	JAMAICA	83	48	35	115
102	MALDIVES	81	43	38	117
103	FIJI	81	42	39	117
104	GUYANA	81	40	41	117
105	BELARUS	81	38	43	117
106	BAHRAIN	80	38	42	118
107	TIMOR-LESTE	79	39	40	119
108	KAZAKHSTAN	79	33	46	119
109	SAUDI ARABIA	77	36	41	121
110	OMAN	77	32	45	121
111	BOLIVIA	76	32	44	122
112	NAURU	74	35	39	124
113	SURINAME	73	29	44	125
114	BOTSWANA	72	40	32	126
115	AZERBAIJAN	72	30	42	126
116	THAILAND	72	25	47	126
117	PAPUA NEW GUINEA	71	30	41	127
118	ARMENIA	71	30	41	127
119	LESOTHO	70	37	33	128
120	INDONESIA	70	29	41	128
121	CHINA	70	26	44	128
122	MALAWI	69	36	33	129
123	TUNISIA	69	30	39	129
124	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	69	25	44	129
125	CUBA	68	28	40	130
126	ESWATINI	66	36	30	132
127	TANZANIA	66	35	31	132
128	NAMIBIA	66	33	33	132
129	KENYA	65	32	33	133
130	ZAMBIA	65	32	33	133
131	MOROCCO	64	27	37	134
132	KYRGYZSTAN	64	23	41	134
133	GAMBIA	63	37	26	135
134	CAPE VERDE	63	29	34	135
135	MONGOLIA	63	23	40	135
136	UZBEKISTAN	63	22	41	135
137	SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE	63	20	43	135
138	GHANA	62	33	29	136
139	RWANDA	62	24	38	136
140	UGANDA	61	28	33	137
141	TAJIKISTAN	61	21	40	137
142	SIERRA LEONE	60	35	25	138
143	ZIMBABWE	60	30	30	139
144	SENEGAL	59	27	32	139
145	BURKINA FASO	59	26	33	139
146	PHILIPPINES	59	22	37	140
147	BENIN	58	25	33	140
148	INDIA	58	20	38	140
149	JORDAN	58	18	40	141
150	COTE D IVOIRE (IVORY COAST)	57	23	34	141
151	MADAGASCAR	57	20	37	141
152	MOZAMBIQUE	57	20	37	141
153	GABON	57	18	39	141
154	ALGERIA	57	16	41	141
155	BHUTAN	57	13	44	141
156	TURKMENISTAN	56	14	42	143
157	NIGER	55	25	30	143
158	MAURITANIA	55	21	34	143
159	EQUATORIAL GUINEA	55	15	40	144
160	GUINEA BISSAU	54	22	32	144
161	GUINEA	54	22	32	144
162	ANGOLA	54	20	34	144
163	TOGO	54	20	34	144
164	EGYPT	54	14	40	144
165	CAMBODIA	54	11	43	144
166	MALI	53	25	28	145
167	BURUNDI	53	16	37	145
168	COMOROS	53	13	40	145
169	VIETNAM	53	12	41	147
170	LIBERIA	51	21	30	147
171	CHAD	51	17	34	147
172	CAMEROON	51	14	37	147
173	HAITI	51	10	41	147
174	CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC	50	14	36	148
175	LEBANON	50	12	38	148
176	DJIBOUTI	50	11	39	148
177	KOSOVO	49	14	35	149
178	LAOS	49	11	38	149
179	NIGERIA	48	20	28	150
180	CONGO (DEM. REP.)	47	12	35	151
181	CONGO	47	11	36	151
182	SOUTH SUDAN	46	13	33	152
183	LIBYA	46	11	35	152
184	ETHIOPIA	46	10	36	152
185	SUDAN	46	9	37	152
186	BANGLADESH	45	15	30	153
187	SRI LANKA	45	11	34	153
188	NEPAL	44	9	35	154
189	ERITREA	44	8	36	154
190	NORTH KOREA	44	8	36	154
191	PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES	43	10	33	155
192	IRAN	43	8	35	155
193	MYANMAR [BURMA]	43	6	37	155
194	YEMEN	39	8	31	159
195	SOMALIA	38	8	30	160
196	PAKISTAN	38	6	32	160
197	SYRIA	35	5	30	163
198	IRAQ	34	4	30	164
199	AFGHANISTAN	34	4	30	164

The Henley's Passport Index

Henley & Partner's list is one of several indexes created by financial firms to rank global passports according to the access they provide to their citizens.

The Henley Passport Index ranks 199 passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. It is updated in real time throughout the year, as and when visa policy changes come into effect.

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Arton Capital's Passport Index takes into consideration the passports of 193 United Nations member countries and six territories -- ROC Taiwan, Macau (SAR China), Hong Kong (SAR China), Kosovo, Palestinian Territory and the Vatican. Territories annexed to other countries are excluded.

Its 2022 index has the United Arab Emirates in the top spot, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 160.

The Henley Passport Index (HPI) ranks passports according to how many destinations can be reached using a particular country's ordinary passport without requiring a visa ('visa-free'). All distinct destination countries and territories in the IATA database are considered. However, since not all territories issue passports, there are far fewer passports ranked than destinations against which queries are made.

You can check The Henley's Passport Index below:

Henly's Passport Index 2022

FAQs

How do I apply for a passport?

Each country has its process regarding passport applications. To get the most accurate information, check your country’s appropriate government website for all the instructions on obtaining a passport. You may be required to personally apply at a government office or submit your application online.

Generally, it is necessary for passport applicants to fill out an application form, provide proof of citizenship and identity, provide passport-sized photos, and pay the application fee.

It is of utmost importance to fill out the form truthfully and accurately.

What is an official passport?

An official passport is also referred to as a service passport and is only issued to government employees. The reason for issuing such a passport is to let officials in the destination country know that the bearer is there for official business as a representative of the country in an official capacity. Individuals with official passports are not given any special privileges.