How Powerful is your Passport?

Arton, an advisory firm that helps people take part in citizenship and residency programs for investors, has created the Passport Index, which ranks travel documents based on how many countries their holders can visit without having to obtain a visa in advance.The more nations you can access merely by showing up and getting a landing visa at the airport (or even entering visa-free), the more powerful your passport is.

At the top of the list, perhaps not too surprisingly, are the U.S. and the U.K., tied for first place with easy-visa or visa-free access to 147 countries.

The U.S. has long been a source a tourist dollars for the rest of the world (though it’s since been overtaken by China in terms of tourist expenditure), while Britain enjoys special travel relations with many of its former colonies.

Runners up…

In Arton’s “passport power rank 2,” we find Germany, South Korea and France, all with 145 countries apiece. (Although German and French citizens both carry European Union passports, the visa requirements are sometimes different, depending on the holder’s nationality.)

This makes South Korea the holder of the top Asian passport, beating out Japan and Singapore, which each have easy access to 143 nations.

France, by the way, was also the world’s top tourist destination as of 2013, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, beating out the U.S., Spain, China and Italy, in that order.

Meanwhile, one step down in power rank 3, we find Italy and Sweden, at 144 nations each.

Regional Winners…

Over in Africa, a passport from the island nation of the Seychelles will get you quick entry into 116 nations, while among mainland African countries, South Africa finishes first with 84, followed closely by the West African Francophone nation of Guinea, at 81.

Among Middle Eastern states, Oman comes in first with 134, followed by Israel at 129.

Among the Latin American powers, Argentina (at 129) edges out its larger neighbor Brazil (128).

Back of the Travel Pack….

At the bottom of the Passport Index are five nations, each with just 28 easy-travel destinations. These are the Pacific Ocean nation of the Solomon Islands, the fellow island republic of São Tomé and Principe, and the newly formed state of South Sudan, as well as the Palestinian Territories in the Mideast, and Myanmar (Burma) in Southeast Asia.

Surprisingly, these five score even lower than North Korea (44) and war-torn Iraq (38).

 

Here’s the full list, as ranked by Passport Index

Rank	Country	Number of visa-free countries
1	United States of America	147
1	United Kingdom	147
2	France	145
2	South Korea	145
2	Germany	145
3	Italy	144
3	Sweden	144
4	Denmark	143
4	Singapore	143
4	Finland	143
4	Japan	143
4	Luxembourg	143
4	Netherlands	143
5	Switzerland	142
6	Spain	141
6	Norway	141
6	Ireland	141
6	Belgium	141
6	Portugal	141
7	Canada	140
7	Greece	140
7	Austria	140
7	Malaysia	140
8	New Zealand	139
9	Czech Republic	138
9	Australia	138
9	Hungary	138
10	Poland	137
10	Slovakia	137
11	Malta	136
11	Cyprus	136
11	Hong Kong	136
12	Slovenia	135
12	Iceland	135
13	Estonia	134
13	Oman	134
13	Latvia	134
14	Lithuania	132
15	Liechtenstein	131
15	Bulgaria	131
16	Argentina	129
16	Israel	129
17	Brazil	128
17	Romania	128
17	Monaco	128
18	Brunei	125
19	Chile	124
19	Croatia	124
20	San Marino	123
21	Andorra	122
22	Mexico	119
22	Barbados	119
23	Bahamas	117
24	Seychelles	116
25	Vatican City	113
25	Antigua and Barbuda	113
25	Venezuela	113
25	Uruguay	113
26	Mauritius	111
27	Costa Rica	110
27	Panama	110
28	Taiwan	109
29	Turkey	108
29	St. Kitts and Nevis	108
30	Macao	106
31	Serbia	104
32	Paraguay	103
33	Macedonia	101
34	Honduras	100
35	Montenegro	98
35	Guatemala	98
35	Russian Federation	98
36	El Salvador	97
36	Moldova	97
37	Ukraine	96
38	Bosnia and Herzegovina	94
39	Nicaragua	93
40	Albania	91
41	South Africa	84
42	Guinea	81
43	Trinidad and Tobago	77
44	Belize	75
45	China	74
46	St. Lucia	73
47	Peru	72
47	United Arab Emirates	72
47	Dominica	72
48	Grenada	71
48	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	71
49	Sierra Leone	69
50	Cuba	68
50	Kenya	68
50	Jamaica	68
50	Tonga	68
50	Botswana	68
51	Tuvalu	67
52	Niger	66
52	Ghana	66
52	Belarus	66
52	Qatar	66
52	Gambia	66
53	Maldives	65
53	Samoa	65
53	Lesotho	65
53	Kazakhstan	65
54	Vanuatu	64
54	Kiribati	64
54	Ecuador	64
54	Guyana	64
54	Kuwait	64
55	Fiji	63
55	Thailand	63
56	Swaziland	62
56	Colombia	62
56	Nauru	62
57	Nigeria	61
57	Bahrain	61
57	Philippines	61
57	Saudi Arabia	61
57	Azerbaijan	61
57	Tunisia	61
57	Tanzania	61
57	Mali	61
57	Namibia	61
57	Zambia	61
58	Mongolia	60
58	Benin	60
58	Morocco	60
58	Malawi	60
59	India	59
59	Georgia	59
60	Suriname	57
60	Indonesia	57
60	Uganda	57
60	Papua New Guinea	57
60	Senegal	57
61	Bolivia	56
61	Cape Verde	56
62	Armenia	55
63	Kyrgyzstan	54
63	Marshall Islands	54
64	Tajikistan	53
64	Uzbekistan	53
64	Burkina Faso	53
64	Mauritania	53
64	Zimbabwe	53
64	Egypt	53
64	Congo	53
65	Mozambique	52
65	Liberia	52
66	Viet Nam	51
66	Algeria	51
66	Guinea-Bissau	51
66	Palau	51
67	Togo	50
67	Bangladesh	50
67	Micronesia	50
68	Dominican Republic	49
68	Jordan	49
68	Haiti	49
69	Cameroon	48
69	Syria	48
70	Libya	47
70	Iran	47
70	Turkmenistan	47
70	Sudan	47
70	Sri Lanka	47
71	Pakistan	46
72	Chad	45
73	Cambodia	44
73	Lebanon	44
73	North Korea	44
73	Gabon	44
74	Angola	43
74	Rwanda	43
75	Timor-Leste	42
75	Madagascar	42
76	Yemen	41
76	Kosovo	41
76	Congo (Dem. Rep.)	41
76	Central African Republic	41
77	Bhutan	40
77	Equatorial Guinea	40
77	Comoros	40
77	Burundi	40
78	Eritrea	39
78	Somalia	39
79	Iraq	38
79	Djibouti	38
79	Afghanistan	38
79	Nepal	38
79	Ethiopia	38
80	Solomon Islands	28
80	Myanmar [Burma]	28
80	South Sudan	28
80	Sao Tome and Principe	28
80	Palestinian Territories	28

Sources: Market watch and Quartz