Calling all passport nerds: the 2023 power rankings are in (2024)

Japan, South Korea and Singapore continue to dominate the Henley Passport Index

A‘powerful passport’, for those not in-the-know, basicallymeans one that can get you pretty much wherever you want. Ifyou yield a passport with tonnes of power, it can essentially get you toloads of countries – ideally without the need for a visa.

Every few months (every quarter, to be specific), the Henley Passport Index ranks which little book of stamps can get you the furthest. The ranking uses data from the International Air Transport Association, ranking passports based on the number of countries they can be used to visit visa-free.

And top of the index right now is, drum roll please… Japan!Surprise, surprise. The country has long been near the very top of the ranking, with its passports allowing citizens to visit a whopping 193 countries without requiring a visa. Japan is followed by Singapore and South Korea, both of which get access to 192 countries.

The UK passport, meanwhile, is now able to visit 187 countries and comes in at number six – moving up one place from last year. The USA comes in at seven (186 countries) and Australia at eight (185).

The weakest passport, once again, is Afghanistan. Afghan people can only visit 27 countries without the need for a visa. Iraqi and Syrian passports rank similarly low.

Here are the top rankings, with the number of visa-free countries each passport will get you into:

1. Japan, 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, UK, 187
7. Belgium, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, USA, 186
8. Australia, Canada, Greece, Malta, 185
9. Hungary, Poland, 184
10. Lithuania, Slovakia, 183

You can read this quarter’s Henley Passport Index in full here. And if you’re lucky enough to have one of the world’s most powerful passports? Well, here are our tips for how best to use it in 2023.

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• Ed Cunningham
  News Editor, Time Out UK and Time Out London

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