Six countries have claimed the top spot on the 2024 Henley Passport Index as the world’s most powerful passports with visa-free access to 194 destinations out of 227 around the world.
Australians enjoy access to 189 destinations and their passport is ranked at 6th position. The Australian government has announced an additional fee increase for passports, now costing $346, with a second price hike scheduled for 1 July 2024 that may take it to nearly $400.
France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Singapore have showcased the strength of their passports as they maintained the top-place ranking.
South Korea, Finland, and Sweden have been ranked in second place followed by Austria, Denmark, Ireland, and the Netherlands at the third position.
The United Kingdom climbed two ranks to fourth place with visa-free access to 191 destinations.
The top ten most powerful passports in the world for 2024:
- France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain (194 countries)
- Finland, South Korea, Sweden (193 countries)
- Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands (192 countries)
- Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom (191 countries)
- Greece, Malta, Switzerland (190 countries)
- Australia, Czechia, New Zealand, Poland (189 countries)
- Canada, Hungary, United States (188 countries)
- Estonia, Lithuania (187 countries)
- Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (186 countries)
- Iceland (185 countries)
The top ten least powerful passports in the world for 2024:
- Afghanistan (28)
- Syria (29)
- Iraq (31)
- Pakistan (34)
- Yemen (35)
- Somalia (36)
- Libya, Nepal, Palestinian Territories (40)
- Bangladesh, North Korea (42)
- Eritrea, Sri Lanka (43)
- Iran, Lebanon, Nigeria, Sudan (45)
Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, said in a statement:
“The average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024.”
Ukraine (32), The United Arab Emirates (44), Russia (51), and China (62) have seen a remarkable rise in rankings.
India is currently ranked 80th with visa-free access to 62 destinations thus showcasing a strong consistency in its global mobility standing.
At the bottom of the index is Afghanistan in 104th position just behind Syria and Iraq.
Henley Passport Index is a mobility report published online by London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley and Partners.
The results are based on exclusive data from the world’s largest database of travel information, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), supported by serious in-house research. The index counts the number of countries a passport provides visa-free travel to and uses it to determine the world’s most powerful.
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