World’s Most Powerful Passports in 2021

Business » TOURISM | January 8, 2021, Friday // 12:02
Bulgaria: World’s Most Powerful Passports in 2021 iStock

The days when we went to the airport carefree, showed our passport and boarded a plane to whatever destination around the globe, look like a remote memory nowadays. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we travel, perhaps for decades to come.

Countries around the world are taking increasingly more new isolation measures (so-called lockdown) in an attempt to curb the infection, but even when all this is history, it is very likely that mandatory vaccination against the virus will be required before air travel.

The Henley Passport Index, which periodically assesses the world's most comfortable travel passports, has just published its latest report and analysis of what may come in the near future, CNN reports.

The Far East and Australia top the list

The citizens of Japan continue to have the most powerful travel documents in the world. The index does not take into account temporary restrictions, so the Land of the Rising Sun is back at the top of the rankings, offering visa-free access or access on arrival to 191 countries in the world.

In second place is Singapore on a list of 190 countries, while South Korea and Germany share third place among 189 countries.

A little further down in the top 10 is New Zealand, which ranks seventh with visa-free access to 185 countries, while Australia is in eighth place among 184 countries.

Typically, the US, UK and EU countries were the first among the top 10 in this ranking,

but now experts assume that the position of the Asian region will continue to be so strong, as it is home to some of the first countries where the process of recovery from the pandemic has begun.

Currently, the number of cases of coronavirus is growing sharply in both the US and the UK, with the UK being the centre of a rapidly spreading new version of the virus.

Bulgaria ranks 18th,

 as the country’s passport allows access to in a total of 171 countries without problems. Croatia shares this position, and right in front of the two countries is Romania, whose citizens may visit 172 countries around the world under simplified entry procedure.

The best passports to hold in 2021 are:

1. Japan (191 countries)

2. Singapore (190)

3. South Korea, Germany (189)

4. Italy, Finland, Spain, Luxembourg (188)

5. Denmark, Austria (187)

6. Sweden, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland (186)

7. Switzerland, USA, United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium, New Zealand (185)

8. Greece, Malta, Czech Republic, Australia (184)

9. Canada (183)

10. Hungary (181)

The worst passports to hold in 2021 are of countries around the world that have visa-free access or access on arrival to fewer than 40 countries. These include:

103. North Korea (39 countries)

104. Libya, Nepal (38)

105. Palestinian territories (37)

106. Somalia, Yemen (33)

107. Pakistan (32)

108. Syria (29)

109. Iraq (28)

110. Afghanistan (26)

 

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Tags: passports of the world, Henley Passport Index

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