INTERNATIONAL. New data shows Japan, Singapore and South Korea as holding the joint top spot in an index which ranks the world’s passports on the number of destinations their holders can visit without a prior visa.
The Henley Passport Index gives the three Asian powerhouses a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 189 – meaning residents of these countries can visit 189 countries without a visa – and offers an indication of the growing strength of Asian passports globally.
Germany currently has a score of 188, putting it fourth on the list, while Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, and Sweden share fifth spot, each with a score of 187. The UK and the USA, which held the top spot jointly in 2015, have slid to joint 12th and joint 18th place with scores of 185 and 184 respectively.
The countries with the lowest ranked passports are Afghanistan and Iraq. Residents of both of these territories can visit just 30 countries without the requirement for a visa.
Three countries ascending the index are the UAE, Albania, and China. UAE passport holders can now access 165 destinations around the world without a prior visa, while residents of the once closed-off country of Albania can access 116 destinations without a prior visa. For China, visa-free entry is available to 74 destinations, but that figure is growing steadily.
The latest update to the index does not factor in Brexit. Dr Florian Trauner, Research Professor at the Institute for European Studies at the Free University of Brussels, suggested that if the UK and EU manage to maintain a close political and trade relationship, the actual impact of Brexit on the travel freedom of British citizens may remain limited.
However, she sounded a note of warning, adding that, “the picture may change with regard to long-term mobility given that the free movement rights for UK citizens in the EU (and vice versa) will cease to apply.”
Commenting more generally on the index, Dr. Christian H. Kälin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the Passport Index concept, said: “The Henley Passport Index has always been an important tool for global travellers, but the index reveals more than just the relative strength of the world’s passports. Crucially, it is also a lens into the kind of world we are living in, and the kinds of policies states are pursuing.
“With some notable exceptions, there is a growing acknowledgment that policies of engagement, collaboration, and openness yield the greatest results, for both individual nations and the global community as a whole.
Dr. Kälin added that the current strength of Asian passports is emblematic of this progressive shift, and that it seems certain that more and more countries will follow suit in order to benefit from global flows of talent and capital.
The latest passport rankings also reflect how economic growth in Asia is transforming travel and trade. Dr. Parag Khanna, Founder and Managing Partner of FutureMap and author of The Future Is Asian: Global Order in the Twenty-first Century, said: “With all Asian countries topping the index, there is a clear momentum behind the region taking centre stage in globalisation. The steady rise of China through its visa-waiver agreements shows how incremental and reciprocal measures can lead to significant progress in trust and recognition.
“With the Belt and Road Initiative expanding its constellation of member states and cross-border projects, we can fully expect Asian, European, Arab and African countries to continue to seek more seamless access to each other’s countries. This will benefit both China and all states participating in the rising trade along the new Silk Roads.”
Note: For the purposes of our story here, we rate the UK’s position in the ranking as joint 12th place as opposed to the joint fifth place cited by Henley & Partners in their rankings. This is the UK’s actual position in the ranking. Similarly, we rate the UAE as holding equal 48th place, as opposed to joint 21st; and China in equal 117th place as opposed to joint 67th. See table above.
