Canadian passport becomes more powerful, beats US in global ranking; Indian one ranks 82nd on list

Chandigarh, July 24

Singapore raced ahead of Spain, Italy, France and Germany to top the list of world’s most powerful passports.

The ranking–published by London-based immigration consultancy–Henley & Partners, uses the data from the International Air Transport Association to rank 199 passports’ access to 227 travel destinations.

The Henley Passport Index compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations. If no visa is required, then a score with value = 1 is created for that passport.

So having a Singapore passport also means getting visa-free entry to a record 195 global destinations.

The four European countries, which held the No 1 spot earlier in the year, are now in second place along with Japan.

Seven nations take the third spot for the first time. Passport holders from Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea and Sweden can enter 191 places hassle-free.

Also, the Canadian passport has become stronger than last year, ranking 7. However, the US has slipped to eighth spot; last year, it occupied the seventh position.

This is the first time Canada’s passport has ranked higher than the US’ in years. The two countries’ passports tied for sixth place in 2019, but before and after that, Canada ranked lower than the US. In 2014, the US shared the top spot with the UK.

India’s passport ranked 82nd on the list, with citizens allowed to travel to 58 countries without a visa, including popular destinations like Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Most powerful passports

1. Singapore (Visa-free access to 195 countries)

2. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain (192 countries)

3. Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden (191 countries)

4. Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the UK (190 countries)

5. Australia and Portugal (189 countries)

6. Greece and Poland (188 countries)

7. Canada, Czech, Hungary and Malta (187 countries)

8.The United States is ranked number 8 (182 countries)