Three Asian passports are among the list of the most powerful passports of 2022. These passports offer their citizens greater global travel freedom than those of any other country. The new report was released by London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners.

The most powerful passport belongs to Japan. The Japanese passport grants its citizens visa-free or visa-on-demand access to a record number of 193 destinations around the world. Directly behind it, are Singapore and South Korea with access to 192 destinations.

How Are Passports' Capabilities Ranked?

Henley & Partners’ list is only one of several indexes created by financial firms. The metric with which many uses is the access they provide to their citizens. The Henley Passport Index ranks 199 passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. It is updated in real-time throughout the year, and when visa policy changes come into effect.

Full List Of World's Most Powerful Passports

Directly after passports from Singapore and South Korea are those from Germany and Spain. Passports from the latter countries allow their citizens access to 190 destinations.

The full list of  most powerful passports to have in 2022 is as follows:

1. Japan (193 destinations)
2. Singapore, South Korea (192 destinations)
3. Germany, Spain (190 destinations)
4. Finland, Italy, Luxembourg (189 destinations)
5. Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden (188 destinations)
6. France, Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom (187 destinations)
7. Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States (186 destinations)
8. Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Malta (185 destinations)
9. Hungary (183 destinations)
10. Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia (182 destinations)

The Least Powerful Passports of July 2022

Countries with the least powerful passports are those that only have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 40 or fewer countries. These include:

105. North Korea (40 destinations)
106. Nepal, Palestinian territory (38 destinations)
107. Somalia (35 destinations)
108. Yemen (34 destinations)
109. Pakistan (32 destinations)
110. Syria (30 destinations)
111. Iraq (29 destinations)
112. Afghanistan (27 destinations)

Things To Keep In Mind:

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports that “demand for air travel in the Asia-Pacific region is still less than a fifth of pre-Covid levels.”
By comparison, the Henley Passport Index reports that “the markets in Europe and North America have recovered to around 60% of their previous travel mobility levels.”
As travel restrictions ease, there is a hope that lower-ranking passports can start to recover clout. Due to the invasion of Ukraine, Russian passport holders are more cut off from the rest of the world than ever before.
CNN reports, “the index does not take temporary restrictions or airspace closures into account, so while the Russian passport currently sits at 50th place on the index, with a visa-free or visa-free on arrival score of 119, the reality is that Russian citizens are effectively barred from accessing many of those destinations.”

Related: Fee To Enter Europe Will Become Effective Starting 2023

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