Singapore reclaims title of world's most powerful passport

Travelling abroad with a Singapore passport is generally quite a breeze.

But have you given a thought as to why that is so?

Based on the latest data from the Henley Passport Index on Tuesday (July 23), Singapore now has the world's most powerful passport, edging out France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain. 

The six countries were ranked top in Henley's index in January this year. The five nations have since dropped to second, with visa-free entry to 192 destinations.

Singaporeans now have visa-free entry to 195 out of 227 travel destinations.

In third position is a seven-nation tie held by Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea and Sweden.

These countries have visa-free entry to 191 destinations.

Some notable nations and their rankings include United Kingdom (fourth), Australia (fifth), United States (eight) and Malaysia (twelve).

World's least powerful passport 

At the opposite end of the list, Afghanistan's passport continues to be the world's least powerful, with access to 26 destinations.

The central Asian nation has remained bottom of the list since 2019.

Having lost visa-free access to one destination in the past six months, this is the lowest score ever recorded by the country since the index began 19 years ago.

The Henley Passport Index is based on data from the International Air Transport Authority and includes 199 different passports and 227 travel destinations.

ALSO READ: Singapore passport beats Japan's to become world's most powerful

amierul@asiaone.com

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