The land of Rising Sun, Japan has now the strongest passport in the world. The country known for its Innovation, Culture, and Multi-national Tech Giants earn the much-needed reputation and respect from Sovereign Nation across continents.
Japan has overtaken Singapore to claim the top spot on the 2018 Henley Passport Index, having gained visa-free access to Myanmar earlier this month. Japan now enjoys visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to 190 destinations, compared to Singapore’s total of 189. Japan and Singapore have been neck and neck on the index since they both climbed to 1st place in February - following a visa-exemption from Uzbekistan.
The Henley Passport Index, which is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), is an important tool for measuring not only the relative strength of the world’s passports but also the extraordinary results that states can achieve when they work hand in hand with their global peers to build a more interconnected and collaborative world.
Germany has fallen further to 3rd place, which it now shares with South Korea and France. France moved up from 4th to 3rd place last Friday when it gained visa-free access to Uzbekistan, while South Korea moved from 4th to 3rd place on 1 October when it gained visa-free access to Myanmar. Germany, France, and South Korea all have a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 188. Iraq and Afghanistan continue to hold the bottom (106th) spot of the Henley Passport Index, with only 30 destinations accessible to their citizens.
The US and the UK, both with 186 destinations, have also slid down one spot — from 4th to 5th place - with neither having gained access to any new jurisdictions since the start of 2018. With stagnant outbound visa activity compared to Asian high-performers such as Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, it seems increasingly unlikely that the US and the UK will regain the number 1 spot they jointly held in 2015.
List of Strongest Passport upto Rank 5
Rank 1 - Japan
Rank 2 - Singapore
Rank 3 - Germany, France, South Korea
Rank 4 - Denmark, Italy, Spain, Sweden
Rank 5 - Luxembourg, UK, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, US, Portugal.
Weakest Passport in the World.
Rank 100 - South Sudan, Lebanon, Libya, Bangladesh
Rank 101 - Nepal
Rank 102 - Sudan, Palestinian Territory, Eritrea
Rank 103 - Yemen
Rank 104 - Pakistan
Rank 105 - Syria, Somalia
Rank 106 - Iraq, Afghanistan.
India has been ranked at Rank 81 by Henley Passport Index with access to 60 countries. Citizens with Indian Blue passport have Visa Free access to some major nations and most of Island micro nations. Indians can travel without Visa to these major nations: Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia, Serbia, Senegal, Tunisia, Equador, El Salvador, and Qatar. India's neighbour, China was ranked at 71 and the other one, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was at bottom 5 sharing seats with War-Torn Nations.
- Chaitanya Kulkarni.
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