According to the 2024 Passport Index, Canada was the seventh strongest passport holder in the world with 188 visa-free destinations, while the gap between countries at the far end of the rankings widened.
“First-place countries can now travel to 166 more visa-free destinations than Afghanistan, which is at the bottom of the rankings and only has access to 28 visa-free countries,” Christian H. Kaelin said on Wednesday. , president of the firm Henley & Partners, which developed the index.
The 2024 Passport Index, based on official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), announced on Wednesday that six countries, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan and Singapore, would share the top of the rankings with 194 destinations from a total of 227 countries that are accessible without a visa.
Close behind are South Korea, the Asian Tiger State, Finland and Sweden in second place with access to 193 travel destinations without a visa, and four other European Union countries – Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands – in third place with 192 countries.
For its part, Canada found its southern neighbor, the United States, in seventh place with 188 destinations accessible without a visa. However, the country was in second place in 2014.
However, while the company noted a trend toward “greater freedom to travel,” with the number of visa-free destinations almost doubling from 58 to 111 between 2006 and 2024, the index also revealed a global mobility gap that is “larger than ever before” between the Both countries have the most powerful passports and those at the bottom of the rankings.
However, the divide could worsen in 2024, when several major world powers, including the United States, will face “crucial” elections later that year, award-winning journalist and author Misha Glenny wrote.
“Political trends suggest a lack of geopolitical coordination, increasing the risk of potential shocks in an already precarious economic environment,” he added.