Henley Passport Index

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The Henley Passport Index (HPI) is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom of holders of their ordinary – as opposed to diplomatic – passport holders.[1] It started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index (HVRI)[2] and was modified and renamed in January 2018.[3][4] The site provides a ranking for 199 passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free. The number of countries that a specific passport can access becomes its visa-free 'score'. In collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and based on official data from their global database[5] Henley & Partners has analysed the visa regulations of the vast majority of the countries and territories in the world since 2006.[6]

2021 Henley Passport Index[edit]

2021
rank[7]		 Passport issuing country Visa-free
destinations
1  Japan 193
2  Singapore 192
3  Germany 191
 South Korea 191
4  Finland 190
 Italy 190
 Luxembourg 190
 Spain 190
5  Austria 189
 Denmark 189
6  France 188
 Ireland 188
 Netherlands 188
 Portugal 188
 Sweden 188
7  Belgium 187
 New Zealand 187
  Switzerland 187
 United Kingdom 187
 United States 187
8  Czech Republic 186
 Greece 186
 Malta 186
 Norway 186
9  Australia 185
 Canada 185
10  Hungary 184
11  Lithuania 183
 Poland 183
 Slovakia 183
12  Estonia 182
 Iceland 182
 Latvia 182
 Slovenia 182
13  Liechtenstein 179
 Malaysia 179
14  Cyprus 176
15  Monaco 175
 United Arab Emirates 175
16  Bulgaria 174
 Chile 174
 Romania 174
17  Croatia 173
18  Hong Kong 171
19  Argentina 170
 Brazil 170
20  Andorra 169
 San Marino 169
21  Brunei 166
22  Barbados 161
23  Israel 159
 Mexico 159
24  Saint Kitts and Nevis 157
25  Bahamas 155
26  Vatican City 154
27  Uruguay 154
28  Seychelles 152
29  Antigua and Barbuda 151
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 151
30  Costa Rica 150
 Trinidad and Tobago 150
31  Mauritius 146
 Saint Lucia 146
 Taiwan 146
32  Macau 145
33  Grenada 144
34  Dominica 143
35  Panama 142
36  Paraguay 141
37  Ukraine 137
38  Serbia 136
39  Peru 135
 Vanuatu 135
40  El Salvador 134
41  Guatemala 133
 Honduras 133
42  Samoa 131
 Solomon Islands 131
43  Colombia 130
 Venezuela 130
44  Tonga 129
45  Nicaragua 127
 Tuvalu 127
46  North Macedonia 126
47  Montenegro 124
48  Kiribati 123
 Marshall Islands 123
49  Moldova 121
50  Palau 120
51  Russia 119
52 Template:Country data Micronesia 118
53  Bosnia and Herzegovina 117
54  Georgia 116
55  Albania 115
56  Turkey 111
57  South Africa 102
58  Belize 101
59  Qatar 97
60  Kuwait 96
61  East Timor 94
62  Ecuador 92
63  Nauru 89
64  Fiji 88
65  Guyana 87
 Maldives 87
66  Botswana 86
67  Jamaica 85
68  Bahrain 83
69  Papua New Guinea 82
70  Oman 80
71  Bolivia 79
 Saudi Arabia 79
 Thailand 79
72  China 78
 Namibia 78
 Suriname 78
73  Belarus 77
 Lesotho 77
74  Kazakhstan 75
75  Eswatini 74
76  Malawi 73
77  Indonesia 72
 Kenya 72
 Tanzania 72
78  Tunisia 71
 Zambia 71
79  Dominican Republic 70
80  Azerbaijan 68
 Gambia 68
81  Cape Verde 67
 Uganda 67
82  Philippines 66
83  Zimbabwe 65
84  Armenia 64
 Cuba 64
 Ghana 64
 Morocco 64
85  Kyrgyzstan 63
 Mozambique 63
 Sierra Leone 63
86  Benin 62
 Mongolia 62
87  Rwanda 61
 São Tomé and Príncipe 61
88  Mauritania 60
89  Burkina Faso 59
90  Gabon 58
 India 58
 Tajikistan 58
91  Ivory Coast 57
 Uzbekistan 57
92  Equatorial Guinea 56
 Madagascar 56
 Senegal 56
93  Guinea 55
 Togo 55
94  Cambodia 54
 Chad 54
 Comoros 54
 Mali 54
 Niger 54
 Vietnam 54
95  Algeria 53
 Bhutan 53
 Central African Republic 53
 Guinea-Bissau 53
 Turkmenistan 53
96  Angola 51
 Burundi 51
 Egypt 51
 Jordan 51
97  Cameroon 50
 Laos 50
 Liberia 50
98  Congo 49
 Haiti 49
99  Djibouti 48
100  Myanmar 47
101  Nigeria 46
102  Ethiopia 45
103  South Sudan 44
104  DR Congo 43
 Eritrea 43
105  Iran 42
 Sri Lanka 42
106  Bangladesh 41
 Lebanon 41
 Sudan 41
107  Kosovo 40
 Libya 40
108  North Korea 39
109    Nepal 38
110  Palestine 37
111  Somalia 34
112  Yemen 33
113  Pakistan 32
114  Syria 29
115  Iraq 28
116  Afghanistan 26

Definition of the Index[edit]

The Henley Passport index (HPI) ranks passports according to how many destinations can be reached using a particular country's ordinary passport without requiring a visa ('visa-free'). All distinct destination countries and territories in the IATA database are considered. However, since not all territories issue passports, there are far fewer passports ranked than destinations against which queries are made.[8]

Methodology[edit]

To determine the score for each country or territory,[9] its passport is checked against the IATA database in several steps:

1. Each of the 199 passports on the list, is checked against all 227 possible travel destinations for which travel restriction information exists in the IATA database. The score is updated throughout the year as conditions change.

2. Each query must satisfy certain conditions:

  • passport is issued in the country of nationality
  • passport holder is an adult citizen of the country which issued the passport and a lone traveller, not part of a tourist group
  • entry is sought for tourism or business
  • the stay is a minimum of three days

3. Further conditions include:

  • queries are made only for holders of normal passports rather than diplomatic, service, emergency, or temporary passports and other travel documents are disregarded
  • passport holders do not meet any complex requirements for entry (for example, possessing a government-issued letter, translations, or empty pages)
  • passport holders have all necessary vaccinations and certificates;
  • passport holders are arriving at and departing from the same airport
  • passport holders are seeking a short stay rather than a transit
  • the port of entry is a major city or capital, in cases where this is required
  • requirements by the destination country or territory regarding a particular length of validity of passports are disregarded
  • passport holders meet all basic requirements for entry (for example, holding a hotel reservation or having proof of sufficient funds or return tickets)
  • advance passenger information and advance approval to board are not considered to be a visa requirement or travel restriction, neither is the requirement to pay airport tax

It is assumed that the visa policies of Greenland and the Faroe Islands are identical to Denmark.

4. If no visa is required for passport holders from a particular country or territory to enter the destination, then that passport scores 1. [The passport also scores 1 if a visa on arrival, a visitor's permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) can be obtained because they do not require pre-departure government approval, perhaps because of specific visa-waiver programs in place.]

5. Where visas are needed, or where passport holders have to get government-approved electronic visas (e-Visas) before departure, a score of 0 is given. If passport holders must get government approval before leaving in order to obtain a visa on arrival, this also scores 0.

6. The score for each particular passport is then totalled by adding up its scores for all destinations.[10]

July 2021 results[edit]

As of 2021, a Japanese passport offers its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 193 countries, a Singapore passport offers its holders 192 countries, and South Korean passport and German passports each offer 191 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries to their holders.[11] An Afghan passport has once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 26 destinations visa-free.[12]

2006–2015[edit]

European countries are notable for their stability over the past decade, and Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, and Sweden all remain in exactly the same position as 10 years before. The 'Top 10s' were almost identical, with 30 countries in 2015, compared to 26 a decade before. While Liechtenstein dropped, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia, and South Korea all made it into the top 10.

Taiwan, Albania, the United Arab Emirates, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia all moved up more than 20 places in the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index over the period, while the biggest drops were experienced by Guinea (−32), Liberia (−33), Sierra Leone (−35), and Bolivia (−37).

Older rankings[edit]

In the table below, the "access" columns denote the number of visa-free destinations for holders of that passport. Unless indicated otherwise, the data in this table is taken from these[7][13] sources.

Country 2020
Rank 		2020
Access 		2019
Rank 		2010
Rank 		2006
Rank
 Japan 1 191 1 6 3
 Singapore 2 190 1 11 8
 Germany 3 189 2 5 2
 South Korea 3 189 2 13 11
 Finland 4 188 2 4 1
 Italy 4 188 3 5 3
 Luxembourg 4 188 3 4 3
 Spain 4 188 4 6 4
 Austria 5 187 5 8 6
 Denmark 5 187 3 2 1
 France 6 186 4 5 3
 Ireland 6 186 6 7 2
 Netherlands 6 186 5 5 5
 Portugal 6 186 5 8 7
 Sweden 6 186 4 3 2
 Belgium 7 185 6 6 4
  Switzerland 7 185 6 10 4
 Norway 7 185 6 7 4
 United Kingdom 7 185 6 1 3
 United States 7 185 6 7 1
 Czech Republic 8 184 7 18 21
 Greece 8 184 6 12 9
 Malta 8 184 7 15 11
 New Zealand 8 184 8 9 6
 Australia 9 183 9 9 9
 Canada 9 183 6 9 6
 Hungary 10 182 10 18 19
 Lithuania 11 181 9 19 24
 Poland 11 181 13 16 16
 Slovakia 11 181 9 17 22
 Iceland 12 180 10 13 9
 Latvia 12 180 10 20 26
 Slovenia 12 180 10 17 17
 Estonia 13 179 11 19 26
 Liechtenstein 14 178 12 14 10
 Malaysia 14 178 12 13 9
 Monaco 15 175 14 21 15
 Chile 16 174 13 27 14
 Cyprus 16 174 14 18 12
 Romania 17 172 16 22 34
 Bulgaria 18 171 17 25 29
 Argentina 19 170 17 26 19
 Brazil 19 170 17 28 20
 Croatia 19 170 18 35 28
 Hong Kong 19 170 18 19 13
 United Arab Emirates 19 170 15 65 62
 San Marino 20 168 19 23 14
 Andorra 21 167 20 27 20
 Brunei 22 166 21 24 19
 Barbados 23 161 22 29 35
 Israel 24 160 22 25 18
 Mexico 25 159 23 32 21
 Saint Kitts and Nevis 26 156 24 31 40
 Bahamas 27 155 24 30 35
 Uruguay 28 153 25 34 20
 Antigua and Barbuda 29 151 28 33 39
 Seychelles 29 151 26 39 46
 Costa Rica 30 150 27 37 23
 Trinidad and Tobago 30 150 29 45 36
 Vatican City 31 149 29 39
 Mauritius 32 148 30 40 46
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 32 148 31 47 38
 Saint Lucia 33 146 31 46 39
 Taiwan 33 146 31 69 55
 Macau 34 144 33 44 35
 Grenada 35 143 32 49 41
 Paraguay 36 142 32 39 30
 Panama 37 141 34 41 30
 Dominica 38 140 35 51 46
 Peru 39 135 36 58 56
 El Salvador 40 134 37 42 31
 Honduras 40 134 37 42 32
 Serbia 40 134 39 47 64
 Guatemala 41 133 38 42 30
 Samoa 42 131 39 53 49
 Solomon Islands 42 131 40 52 44
 Vanuatu 43 130 40 55 51
 Nicaragua 44 129 41 43 33
 Ukraine 44 129 43 65 64
 Venezuela 44 129 38 36 25
 Colombia 45 127 43 73 64
 Tuvalu 45 127 42 54 48
 Tonga 46 125 44 57 52
 Montenegro 47 124 46 48
 North Macedonia 47 124 45 46
 Kiribati 48 122 46 56 49
 Marshall Islands 48 122 46 66 61
 Moldova 49 120 47 66
 Palau 50 119 47 70
Template:Country data Micronesia 51 118 47 69
 Russia 51 118 48 49 62
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 52 117 49 74 71
 Georgia 53 116 50 72 68
 Albania 54 114 51 78 79
 Turkey 55 111 52 46 46
 Belize 56 101 54 50 42
 South Africa 56 101 53 47 37
 Kuwait 57 95 56 58 58
 Qatar 57 95 57 63 60
 East Timor 57 95 55 85
 Ecuador 58 91 58 64 56
 Nauru 59 89 60 56 54
 Fiji 60 88 59 57 51
 Guyana 60 88 60 57 45
 Jamaica 61 86 61 56 45
 Botswana 62 85 62 60 50
 Maldives 62 85 61 56 52
 Papua New Guinea 63 84 62 59 56
 Bahrain 64 82 63 62 59
 Oman 65 79 64 68 61
 Bolivia 66 78 65 67 29
 Suriname 66 78 65 66 57
 Thailand 66 78 66 69 67
 Namibia 67 77 67 62 56
 Saudi Arabia 67 77 69 71 65
 Kazakhstan 68 76 68 73 68
 Belarus 69 75 67 72 64
 Lesotho 69 75 69 64 47
 China 70 74 72 88 78
 Eswatini 70 74 70 65 52
 Malawi 71 73 71 64 50
 Kenya 72 72 72 64 52
 Indonesia 73 71 73 84 67
 Tanzania 73 71 75 68 56
 Zambia 73 71 73 65 53
 Tunisia 74 69 75 67 59
 Gambia 75 68 74 61 45
 Azerbaijan 76 67 76 76 68
 Philippines 76 67 77 73 63
 Uganda 76 67 76 70 58
 Cape Verde 77 66 76 73
 Dominican Republic 78 65 78 77 71
 Ghana 78 65 77 67 53
 Zimbabwe 78 65 78 70 56
 Cuba 79 64 77 78 69
 Morocco 79 64 80 76 66
 Armenia 80 63 81 76 69
 Kyrgyzstan 80 63 80 74 68
 Sierra Leone 80 63 79 64 51
 Benin 81 62 80 73 61
 Mozambique 81 62 81 82 74
 Mongolia 81 62 80 82 72
 São Tomé and Príncipe 82 61 81 83 74
 Rwanda 83 60 84 87 73
 Burkina Faso 84 59 83 76 62
 Mauritania 84 59 83 40 58
 India 85 58 82 77 71
 Tajikistan 85 58 84 77 69
 Gabon 86 57 85 85 72
 Ivory Coast 86 57 84 72
 Uzbekistan 86 57 85 80 72
 Senegal 87 56 86 76 60
 Equatorial Guinea 88 55 89 89 76
 Guinea 88 55 85 75 60
 Madagascar 88 55 87 83 71
 Togo 88 55 86 76 62
 Cambodia 89 54 88 87 79
 Mali 89 54 87 75 59
 Niger 89 54 87 76 60
 Vietnam 89 54 90 84 78
 Bhutan 90 53 89 83 77
 Chad 90 53 88 82
 Comoros 90 53 88 89
 Guinea-Bissau 90 53 87 79 63
 Turkmenistan 90 53 90 86 77
 Central African Republic 91 52 90 81 68
 Algeria 92 51 91 79 73
 Jordan 92 51 92 97 75
 Angola 93 50 92 92 77
 Burundi 93 50 93 89 78
 Egypt 93 50 92 84
 Laos 93 50 92 85 76
 Cameroon 94 49 92 85 70
 Haiti 94 49 92 85 74
 Liberia 94 49 93 82 65
 Congo 95 48 94 85 69
 Djibouti 96 47 95 91 77
 Myanmar 96 47 95 92 81
 Nigeria 97 46 95 76 62
 Ethiopia 98 44 97 92 78
 South Sudan 99 43 97
 DR Congo 100 42 97 90
 Eritrea 100 42 99 93 76
 Sri Lanka 100 42 96 84 74
 Bangladesh 101 41 99 85 68
 Iran 101 41 99 92 82
 Kosovo 102 40 98 89
 Lebanon 102 40 100 94 79
 Sudan 102 40 102 96 79
 North Korea 103 39 100 90 78
 Libya 104 38 100 87 77
   Nepal 104 38 101 88 76
 Palestine 104 38 102 97
 Somalia 105 33 104 95 81
 Yemen 105 33 103 88 78
 Pakistan 106 32 104 90 79
 Syria 107 29 105 87 80
 Iraq 108 28 106 97 81
 Afghanistan 109 26 107 98 83

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Smith, Oliver (29 February 2016). "The world's most powerful passports". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "Visa Restriction Index 2006 to 2016 2018". visaindex.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Andrejevic, Mark and Volcic, Zala (2016). Commercial Nationalism: Selling the Nation and Nationalizing the Sell. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. ISBN 9781137500984
  4. ↑ "Rights of Passage — Henley Passport Index 2018". Henley & Partners Passport Index. Henley & Partners Holdings Ltd. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018. ...what are the political factors governing the strength of your passport? Perhaps more importantly, if your passport is not serving you, what can you do to enhance it? The 2018 Henley Passport Index was designed with these questions in mind. Launched 9 January, and replacing the Henley Visa Restrictions Index, the Henley Passport Index provides a ranking
  5. ↑ Abrahamian, Atossa Araxia (2015). The Cosmopolites: The Coming of the Global Citizen, pp. 70–93. Colombia Global Reports, New York. ISBN 9780990976363
  6. ↑ "The Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index 2016" (PDF). henleyglobal.com. Henley & Partners. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Henley Passport Index". Henley Passport Index. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  8. ↑ Kalin, Christian H. Global Residence and Citizenship Handbook (5 ed.). Ideos Publications. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-3-9524052-7-7.
  9. ↑ Kalin, Christian H. Global Residence and Citizenship Handbook (5 ed.). Ideos Publications. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-3-9524052-7-7.
  10. ↑ "Henley Passport Index 2006 to 2018". Henley & Partners Passport Index. Henley & Partners Holdings Ltd. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018. The index and its contents are based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and supplemented, enhanced, and updated using extensive in-house research and open-source online data. The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations. Updated in real-time throughout the year, as and when visa-policy changes come into effect...On a fixed date each year, Henley & Partners receives exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), which forms the basis of the Henley Passport Index. In order to maintain the accuracy of the data provided by IATA in the face of constant updates to visa policy, and in order to create detailed visa lists for all 199 passports in our database, the Henley & Partners research team uses publicly available and reliable online sources to cross-check each passport against all 227 possible travel destinations. This research process is ongoing throughout the year. It is coupled with a rigorous monitoring system to pick up relevant visa-policy shifts.
  11. ↑ "Henley Index: Japan tops 2020 list of world's most powerful passports". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  12. ↑ Madden, Duncan (10 January 2020). "The Most Powerful Passports In The World In 2020". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  13. ↑ "Henley Passport Global Ranking". Henley Passport Index. Retrieved 2 December 2020.

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