Japan remains the holder of the most powerful passport in the world for the fifth consecutive year, according to the Henley Global Passport Index released in January 2023.
The ranking is based on the total number of destinations a passport holder can visit without needing a visa, as well as the Henley Passport Power (HPP), which indicates the percentage of global GDP each passport provides.
Each visa-free destination is equivalent to one point, and Japan scored 193 out of 227 destinations.
Singapore and South Korea tied for second place with a score of 192.
Germany and Spain tied for third place with 190 points, while Finland, Italy, and Luxembourg placed fourth with 189 points.
Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, and Sweden rounded out the top five with a score of 188.
TOP 10 MOST POWERFUL PASSPORTS ACCORDING TO HENLEY PASSPORT INDEX:
1 Japan (visa-free score 193)
2 Singapore, South Korea ( 192)
3 Germany, Spain (190)
4 Finland, Italy, Luxembourg (189
5 Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden (188)
6 France, Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom (187)
7 Belgium, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States (186)
8 Australia, Canada, Greece, Malta (185)
9 Hungary, Poland (184)
10 Lithuania, Slovakia (183)
The Philippines is ranked 78th with 67 visa-free destinations, which is slightly higher than the 80th place in 2022, but lower than 77th place in 2021, and 74th place in 2020.
Afghanistan, meantime, is the least powerful passport with a score of 27.
The report states that “Afghanistan remains firmly at the bottom of the index, with a score of just 27 — 166 fewer visa-free destinations than Japan, which represents the widest global mobility gap in the index’s 18-year history.”
