Most Powerful Passports In The World Revealed, Australia Ranked No. 8


Your passport is a powerful thing…for most people, anyway, allowing you to travel around the world and confirm your identity. The strength of your passport is determined by Henley & Partners, who release their Global Passport Ranking data every year, and adds that its Passport Index is “updated quarterly”. Passports are ranked based on data obtained from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.

The most up to date information has just been released by Henley & Partners, and for the fifth year in a row, Japan takes the top spot, closely followed Singapore and South Korea. Australia just makes it into the top 10, coming in at number 8, tied with Canada, Czech Republic, Greece and Malta. The United States sits one place above at number 7.

In dead last, position 112, is Afghanistan with 27 points. Iraq and Syria second-bottom and third-bottom, with 29 points and 30 points respectively.

How is a passport’s strength calculated?

The Japanese currently have the most powerful passport in the world, with 193 points. Image: Lonely Planet

To determine a passport’s strength, Henley & Partners scores each one based on the number of destinations that the passport holder can enter visa-free. If no visa is required, then 1 point is awarded. If the passport holder is able to obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit or an electronic travel authority (ETA) upon entry, then the passport gets 1 point.

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If, however, a visa is required for entry, or a passport holder has to apply for a government-approved electric visa (e-Visa) before they depart their original destination, 0 points are awarded to the passport. 0 points are also given if the passport holder needs to obtain pre-departure approval.

Japan sits at the top of the list with 193 points, meaning holders of a Japanese passport can enter 193 countries without a visa, or countries that allow them to be granted a visa upon arrival.

How powerful is the Australian passport?

Image: The Conversation

Australia, in eighth place, has a score of 185. The Australian passport has previously ranked as high as sixth place, in 2012, 2013 and 2015. Its lowest ranking during the last 17 years Henley & Partners has been publishing its annual rankings was ninth, in 2006 and 2019.

To find out which countries you can visit visa-free on an Australian passport, head to Henley Global’s passport index.

The United Kingdom, perhaps surprisingly, considering it’s no longer part of the EU, scores 187 points, 1 point higher than the United States, which walks away with 186.

Top 10 most powerful passports

We say top 10 most powerful passports, but since many countries are tied with equal points, we’ll list all countries that are included in the top 10 spots.

Of course, your passport is only powerful, or even usable, if it’s valid and hasn’t expired. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world realised their passports expired during the global Covid-19 pandemic, and so faced days-long queues to renew them quickly when international travel finally returned.

The Henley Passport Index also bases its rankings on other criteria, which include:

  • The passport is ‘normal’ rather than diplomatic, emergency or temporary
  • The passport holder is an adult citizen of the issuing country, traveling alone
  • The passport holder meets all the basic requirements for entry (such as holding a hotel reservation or having proof of sufficient funds)
  • The passport holder has had all the necessary inoculations or vaccinations
  • The passport holder is arriving at and departing from the same airport
  • The passport holder is seeking a short stay rather than a transit stay in the destination country or territory
  • The duration of the short stay is between three days and several months
  • Entry to the destination country is for tourist or business purposes

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