Japanese Passport becomes the world’s most powerful passport
Replacing the Singaporean passport, the Japanese passport has been declared the most powerful passport across the world in 2018.
According to 2018 Henley Passport Index, the people having Japanese passport can travel without a visa or can get an on-arrival visa across 190 countries. The passport of Singapore allows visa-free or on-arrival visa travel to 189 countries. Japan recently gained a visa-free access to Myanmar earlier this year.
Standing in the third place are three countries – Germany, France and South Korea – passports of which have access to 188 destinations across the world. The passports of the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) are tied at the fifth place which allows visa-free entry or an on-arrival visa to 186 countries.
India, meanwhile, stands at a far 81st number – which grants access to 60 destinations. Holding an Indian passport allows visa-free travel to Bhutan, Indonesia, Serbia, Zimbabwe, Fiji, Qatar among others. On-arrival visas are provided on Indian passports from several countries including Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Jordan and Kenya. The Indian apssport ranks ahead of Egypt (92nd), Myanmar (93rd), Sri Lanka (99th) and North Korea (99th).
The World’s Top 10 ‘Most Powerful Passports’ are:
1. Japan (190)
2. Singapore (189)
3. Germany, France, South Korea (188)
4. Denmark, Italy, Spain, Finland, Sweden (187)
5. Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, United States, Portugal (186)
6. Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada (185)
7. Australia, Malta, Greece (183)
8. Czech Republic, New Zealand (182)
9. Iceland (181)
10. Slovenia, Hungary, Malaysia (180)
The last on the list is Afghanistan at a 106th position offering visa-free/on-arrival access to just 30 countries. Nepal is at #101 position (40 countries) and Pakistan is at #104 position (33)
