Around this time six years ago I published this post on the most powerful passports in the world.
It was incredible to see people’s interest and somehow I was the first person to put this list together. In fact, the original post was seen by over 2 million people!
Nowadays there are hundreds, actually more like thousands of variations on the most powerful passports.
Being a new year I thought it would be good not only to list the top 10 most powerful passports but compare the results to this time six years ago.
Surprisingly there actually has been a LOT of changes to the list.
So how are the most powerful passports ranked?
They are ranked based on the travel freedom that each passport holder enjoys. Basically the more countries you can visit without needing a visa the “more powerful your passport is”.
It is probably the easiest way to measure the “power” of a passport.
Okay so, first of all, let’s break down the most powerful passports in 2014:
- Liechtenstein – could travel to 159 countries without a visa.
- Malaysia and Malta – could travel to 163 countries without a visa.
- Iceland – could travel to 165 countries without a visa.
- South Korea – could travel to 166 countries without a visa.
- Australia, Singapore and Greece – could travel to 167 countries without a visa.
- Switzerland, Austria and New Zealand – could travel to 168 countries without a visa.
- Ireland, Canada, France, Japan, Norway, Portugal and Spain – could travel to 170 countries without a visa.
- Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands – could travel to 171 counties without a visa.
- USA, Germany, Denmark, Luxembourg – could travel to 172 countries without a visa.
- Most Powerful: The United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland – could travel to 173 countries without a visa.
From 2014 data.
So what’s changed with the most powerful passports 2020?
Well, Brexit was an all unfamiliar word back in 2014 which appears to have done them no favours on visa-free travel.
Sadly Ireland and Australia fell on the list.
But most surprising was the new number 1 spot! Which is…
The Top 10 Most Powerful Passports In The World 2020:
- Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary – can travel to travel to 181 countries without a visa.
- New Zealand, Malta, Czech Republic, Canada, Australia – can travel to travel to 183 countries without a visa.
- United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Greece, Belgium – can travel to travel to 184 countries without a visa.
- Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria – can travel to travel to 185 countries without a visa.
- Sweden, France – can travel to travel to 186 countries without a visa.
- Spain, Luxembourg, Denmark – can travel to travel to 187 countries without a visa.
- Italy, Finland – can travel to travel to 188 countries without a visa.
- South Korea, Germany – can travel to travel to 189 countries without a visa.
- Singapore – can travel to travel to 190 countries without a visa.
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Most Powerful: Japan – can travel to travel to 191 countries without a visa.
Sources: Henly Passport Index
How accurate is the list?
