24 July,2024 04:18 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Image for representational purposes only (Photo Courtesy: iStock)
UK-based Henley Passport Index has released the list of most powerful passports in the world. According to the July 2024 rankings, Singapore occupies the top spot with its citizens having visa-free entry to 195 countries. It dethroned Japan from the first place, which is now at the second place along with Spain, France, Germany and Italy. The passports of all five countries allow visa-free access to 192 destinations.
India has been ranked at 82nd spot on the global passport index, allowing Indians visa-free entry to 58 countries, including popular destinations like Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
The Henley Passport Index is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom allowed by those countries' ordinary passports for their citizens. The ranking is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
An unprecedented seven-nation cohort, each with access to 191 destinations without a prior visa -- Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden -- now sit in 3rd place on the ranking.
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The UK was in fourth place along with Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, despite its visa-free destination score falling to 190.
"The US, on the other hand, continues its now decade-long slide down the index, dropping down to 8th spot, with access to just 186 destinations visa-free," said the Index.
The UAE made it into the Top 10 for the first time, having added an impressive 152 destinations since the index's inception in 2006 to achieve its current visa-free score of 185.
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Top 10 most powerful passports in the world (according to latest Henley Passport Index)
1. Singapore - 195 countries
2. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan - 192 countries
3. Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden - 191 countries
4. Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, UK - 190 countries
5. Australia, Portugal - 189 countries
6. Greece, Poland - 188 countries
7. Canada, Czechia, Malta, Hungary - 187 countries
8. USA - 186 countries
9. Estonia, Lithuania, UAE - 185 countries
10. Iceland, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia - 184 countries
(With inputs from IANS)
