Ranking of the Best Passports
3 min readTravelling can be enjoyable when you have the money and all the required documents. Regarding documents, you need a visa and a passport when visiting most global destinations. There are also a few destinations that only need you to have a travel passport to gain entry. Just as there is automaty online, there are first-rate passports that everybody wants to have. The ranking of the best travel passports to have in 2021 is out. The list shows the best travel passports available on earth today.
One factor that determines the power of a passport is its usefulness without a visa. People dislike applying for a visa when travelling to a destination that asks for a travel visa before entry. So a visa-free travel destination is always welcome because all that you need is a passport. Henley & Partners, global citizenship and resident advisory firm based in London, recently released passport rankings for this year.
Another name for these rankings is Henley Passport Index. To create these rankings, the firm gathered data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). When creating Henley Passport Index, the firm ignored temporary restrictions that may exist due to Covid-19.
This year, Japan and Singapore took the lead. Their staggering performance is because their passports allow people to travel to one hundred and ninety-two nations. Japan occupies the top position for three years in a row. Singapore got the first position this year. The second position went to South Korea and Germany probably for allowing travel to 190 destinations.
The third position was a tie between Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, and Finland. They all allow flying to 189 destinations. The fourth position went to Denmark and Australia, and their passport can take you to188 travel destinations. The fifth position went to Ireland, Netherland, France, Portugal, and Sweden. Their visitors’ passports allow flying to 187 destinations.
Belgium, Switzerland, and New Zealand grabbed the sixth position with 186 destinations. The seventh position included nations whose passports allow visiting 185 destinations. These were Malta, the Czech Republic, Greece, Norway, the USA, and the UK. The eighth position consisted of Canada and Australia with 184 destinations, while the ninth position went to Hungary with 183 travel destinations.
Portland Lithuania and Slovakia closed the list of the best ten travel passports with 182 destinations. The Henley Passport Index also revealed the worst passports to have. These are countries that have the least attractive travel passports worldwide. These appeared between positions 109 and 116.
North Korea led the list of the least powerful passports mainly because it only offers 39 travel destinations. Nepal and Palestinian territories were position 110, as they allowed travelling to 37 destinations. Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, and Iraq followed each other with 34, 33, 31, 29, and 28 in that order. Afghanistan passport came last, and it is the worst of all travel passports to have.
In its report, Henley & Partners report states that the mobility gap is wider than ever before. The reason quoted for this is the Coronavirus outbreak. Many countries in the south have removed their border restrictions to improve their economies while those in the north have not. Thus, the nations that came last in Henry Passport Index still hold on to strict Covid-19 travel restrictions. They are doing so even when there are Covid-19 vaccinations.