The 10 most powerful passports in the world for 2019

Japan and Singapore jointly hold the most powerful passports in the world in the latest edition of a passport-ranking index.

For the third quarter of 2019, the Henley Passport Index has seen some reshuffling following new visa policies from Pakistan and developments with Brexit.

While Japan and Singapore managed to hold onto an 18-month winning streak with visa-free access to 189 countries, notable movers and shakers this term includes the United Arab Emirates, which entered the top 20 index for the first time in the list’s 14-year-history.

Over the last five years, Henley & Partners notes that the UAE doubled the number of visa-free destinations.

Meanwhile, both the US and the UK dropped to the lowest position they’ve held since 2010, sharing sixth spot this term.

Their drop is attributed notably to their exclusion in Pakistan’s Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) program, which was extended to 50 countries.

Picture: iStock

The UK’s imminent exit from Europe is also poised to weaken the power and status of the British passport, analysts say.

With visa-free access to just 25 countries, Afghanistan sits at the bottom of the list.

South Africa dropped three places on the index to 54th place, with visa-free access to 99 countries.

The report is compiled from data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and measures global mobility based on visa-free access to destinations.

Here are the most powerful passports of 2019:

1. Japan, Singapore
2. South Korea, Germany, Finland
3. Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg
4. France, Sweden, Spain
5. Austria, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland
6. Norway, UK, US, Belgium, Canada, Greece, Ireland
7. Malta
8. Czech Republic
9. Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Lithuania
10. Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia

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