The Most Powerful Passports in the World for 2022

Passport power ranking 

Since 2006, the London-based Henley & Partners has collected and analysed data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to rank the world's most powerful passports. 

Its latest quarterly Henley Passport Index has Japan and Singapore topping the list, allowing those passport holders to enter 192 destinations around the world visa-free. That's 166 more than Afghanistan, which holds the bottom spot on the index. 

Further down to the top 10, the rankings are almost unchanged. South Korea and Germany follow in second place with visa-free access to 190 destinations and Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain are all together in third place with a score of 189. 

The UK and US passports have regained some of their power after falling to 7^th equal place (with a score of 185) last year. Both countries now move up to 6^th place, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 186. 

The most powerful passports:

1. Japan, Singapore (192)
2. Germany, South Korea (190)
3. Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain (189)
4. The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, France, Sweden (188)
5. Ireland, Portugal (187)
6. Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, UK, USA (186)
7. Australia, Canada, Czechia, Greece, Malta (185)
8. Hungary, Poland (183)
9. Lithuania, Slovakia (182)
10. Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia (181)

The least powerful passports:  

1. Afghanistan (26)
2. Iraq (28)
3. Syria (29)
4. Pakistan (31)
5. Yemen (33)
6. Somalia (34)
7. Palestinian Territory, Nepal (37)
8. North Korea (39)
9. Libya, Kosovo, Bangladesh (40)
10. Sudan, Sri Lanka, Lebanon (41)

Greatest ever mobility gap 

On average, an individual traveller can visit 107 countries visa-free or visa-on-arrival in 2022. However, the record-breaking levels of travel freedom mask an increasing gap between countries in the global north and those in the south during the Covid pandemic. People from Sweden and the US for example are able to visit more than 180 destinations visa-free, while passport holders from Angola, Cameroon and Laos are able to enter only about 50 destinations.