New ranking reveals bestperforming passports for 2024
The new quarterly passport rankings reveal an unprecedented tie, with six countries at the top of the most soughtafter passports for 2024. Citizens of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain have access to a record 194 destinations worldwide, without one Visa is required.
The freedom to travel to more and more countries without a visa is an indicator of the power of a passport. This freedom of travel is monitored by the Henley Passport Index, created by Londonbased consultancy Henley & Partners based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
European growth
After five years of Asian dominance with Japan and Singapore, Europe returned to the top of the rankings thanks to countries such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Other European countries, including Finland and Sweden, are tied with South Korea in second place, while Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands are in third place. The United Kingdom and Portugal are in fourth place, while Greece, Malta and Switzerland round out the top five.
Other notable advances
Outside Europe, Australia and New Zealand have also improved their positions, while the United Arab Emirates has risen 106 places since 2014 and is now ranked 11th.
Despite overall progress in visafree access, Christian H. Kaelin, president of Henley & Partners and creator of the Passport Index, highlights growing global inequality. “Firstplace countries can now travel visafree to 166 more destinations than Afghanistan, which is at the bottom of the rankings and has access to only 28 visafree countries,” Kaelin said.
Alternative index
Another important ranking is the Arton Capital Passport Index, which also contains information on visafree access. According to the latest data from this index, the United Arab Emirates ranks first, while the United States and the United Kingdom are ranked 5th and 6th.
Regardless of the index used, the trend towards increasing visafree access to global destinations is clear, driven both by intergovernmental agreements and citizens' desire to explore the world with greater freedom. This phenomenon continues every year and promises to continue making the world an increasingly accessible locale for international travelers.