Henley Passport Index

The Henley Passport Index (HPI) is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom for their citizens.[1] It started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index (HVRI)[2] and was modified and renamed in January 2018.[3][4] The site provides a ranking of the 199 passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free. The number of countries that a specific passport can access becomes its visa-free 'score'. In collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and based on official data from their global database[5] Henley & Partners has analysed the visa regulations of all the countries and territories in the world since 2006.[6]

2020 Henley Passport Index

2020 rank[7]	Country	Visa-free destinations
1	Japan	191
2	Singapore	190
3	Germany	189
=	South Korea	189
5	Finland	188
=	Italy	188
=	Luxembourg	188
=	Spain	188
9	Austria	187
=	Denmark	187
11	France	186
=	Ireland	186
=	Netherlands	186
=	Portugal	186
=	Sweden	186
16	Belgium	185
=	Switzerland	185
=	Norway	185
=	United Kingdom	185
=	United States	185
21	Czech Republic	184
=	Greece	184
=	Malta	184
=	New Zealand	184
25	Australia	183
=	Canada	183
27	Hungary	182
28	Lithuania	181
=	Poland	181
=	Slovakia	181
31	Iceland	180
=	Latvia	180
=	Slovenia	180
34	Estonia	179
35	Liechtenstein	178
=	Malaysia	178
37	Monaco	175
38	Chile	174
=	Cyprus	174
40	Romania	172
41	Bulgaria	171
=	United Arab Emirates	171
43	Argentina	170
=	Brazil	170
=	Croatia	170
=	Hong Kong	170
47	San Marino	168
48	Andorra	167
49	Brunei	166
50	Barbados	161
51	Israel	160
52	Mexico	159
53	Saint Kitts and Nevis	156
54	Bahamas	155
55	Uruguay	153
56	Antigua and Barbuda	151
=	Seychelles	151
58	Costa Rica	150
=	Trinidad and Tobago	150
60	Holy See	149
61	Mauritius	148
=	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	148
63	Saint Lucia	146
=	Taiwan	146
65	Macau	144
67	Grenada	143
68	Paraguay	142
69	Panama	141
70	Dominica	140
71	Peru	135
72	El Salvador	134
=	Honduras	134
=	Serbia	134
75	Guatemala	133
76	Samoa	131
=	Solomon Islands	131
78	Vanuatu	130
79	Nicaragua	129
=	Ukraine	129
=	Venezuela	129
82	Colombia	128
=	Tuvalu	128
84	Tonga	125
85	Montenegro	124
=	North Macedonia	124
87	Kiribati	122
=	Marshall Islands	122
89	Moldova	120
90	Palau	119
91	F.S. Micronesia	118
=	Russia	118
93	Bosnia and Herzegovina	117
94	Georgia	116
95	Albania	114
96	Turkey	111
97	Belize	101
=	South Africa	101
99	Kuwait	95
=	Qatar	95
=	East Timor	95
102	Ecuador	91
103	Nauru	89
104	Fiji	88
=	Guyana	88
106	Jamaica	86
107	Botswana	85
=	Maldives	85
109	Papua New Guinea	84
110	Bahrain	82
111	Oman	79
112	Bolivia	78
=	Suriname	78
=	Thailand	78
115	Namibia	77
=	Saudi Arabia	77
117	Kazakhstan	76
118	Belarus	75
=	Lesotho	75
120	China	74
=	Eswatini	74
122	Malawi	73
123	Kenya	72
124	Indonesia	71
=	Tanzania	71
=	Zambia	71
127	Tunisia	69
128	Gambia	68
129	Azerbaijan	67
=	Philippines	67
=	Uganda	67
132	Cape Verde	66
133	Dominican Republic	65
=	Ghana	65
=	Zimbabwe	65
136	Cuba	64
=	Morocco	64
138	Armenia	63
=	Kyrgyzstan	63
=	Sierra Leone	63
141	Benin	62
=	Mozambique	62
=	Mongolia	62
144	São Tomé and Príncipe	61
145	Rwanda	60
146	Burkina Faso	59
=	Mauritania	59
148	India	58
=	Tajikistan	58
150	Gabon	57
=	Ivory Coast	57
=	Uzbekistan	57
153	Senegal	56
154	Equatorial Guinea	55
=	Guinea	55
=	Madagascar	55
=	Togo	55
158	Cambodia	54
=	Mali	54
=	Niger	54
=	Vietnam	54
162	Bhutan	53
=	Chad	53
=	Comoros	53
=	Guinea-Bissau	53
=	Turkmenistan	53
167	Central African Republic	52
168	Algeria	51
=	Jordan	51
170	Angola	50
=	Burundi	50
=	Egypt	50
=	Laos	50
174	Cameroon	49
=	Haiti	49
=	Liberia	49
177	Congo	48
178	Djibouti	47
=	Myanmar	47
180	Nigeria	46
181	Ethiopia	44
182	South Sudan	43
183	DR Congo	42
=	Eritrea	42
=	Sri Lanka	42
186	Bangladesh	41
=	Iran	41
188	Kosovo	40
=	Lebanon	40
=	Sudan	40
191	North Korea	39
192	Libya	38
=	Nepal	38
=	Palestine	38
195	Somalia	33
=	Yemen	33
197	Pakistan	32
198	Syria	29
199	Iraq	28
200	Afghanistan	26

Definition of the Index

The HPI consists of a ranking of passports according to how many other territories can be reached 'visa-free' (defined below). All distinct destination countries and territories in the IATA database are considered. However, since not all territories issue passports, there are far fewer passports to be ranked than destinations against which queries are made.[8]

Methodology

To determine the score for each country or territory,[9] the IATA database is queried in the following way:

1. Each of the 199 passports for which the score is to be determined, is checked against every one of the 227 possible travel destinations for which travel restriction information exists in the IATA database. These interrogations continue throughout the year so scores will continuously change.

2. Each query is made with the following conditions:

• passports are issued in the country of nationality
• passport holders are an adult citizen of the country which issued the passport and a lone traveller rather than in a tourist group
• entry is sought for tourism or business
• the stay is at least three days

3. Further conditions include:

• queries are made only for holders of normal passports rather than diplomatic, service, emergency, or temporary passports and other travel documents are disregarded
• passport holders do not meet any complex requirements for entry (for example, possessing a government-issued letter, translations, or empty pages)
• passport holders have all necessary vaccinations and certificates;
• passport holders are arriving at and departing from the same airport
• passport holders are seeking a short stay rather than a transit
• the port of entry is a major city or capital, in cases where this is required
• requirements by the destination country or territory regarding a particular length of validity of passports are disregarded
• passport holders meet all basic requirements for entry (for example, holding a hotel reservation or having proof of sufficient funds or return tickets)
• advance passenger information and advance approval to board are not considered to be a visa requirement or travel restriction, neither is the requirement to pay airport tax

It is assumed that the visa policies of Greenland and the Faroe Islands are identical to Denmark.

4. If no visa is required for passport holders from a particular country or territory to enter the destination, then that passport scores 1. [The passport also scores 1 if a visa on arrival, a visitor's permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) can be obtained because they do not require pre-departure government approval, perhaps because of specific visa-waiver programs in place.]

5. Where visas are needed, or where passport holders have to get government-approved electronic visas (e-Visas) before departure, a score of 0 is given. If passport holders must get government approval before leaving in order to obtain a visa on arrival, this also scores 0.

6. The total score for a particular passport is then assigned according to the conditions defined above.[10]

April 2020 results

As of 2020, a Japanese passport offers its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 191 countries, a Singapore passport offers its holders 190 countries, and South Korean passport and German passports each offer 189 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries to their holders.[11] An Afghan passport has once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 26 destinations visa-free.[12]

2006–2015

European countries are notable for their stability over the past decade, and Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, and Sweden all remain in exactly the same position as 10 years before. The 'Top 10s' were almost identical, with 30 countries in 2015, compared to 26 a decade before. While Liechtenstein dropped, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia, and South Korea all made it into the top 10.

Taiwan, Albania, the United Arab Emirates, Bosnia, and Serbia all moved up more than 20 places in the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index over the period, while the biggest drops were experienced by Guinea (−32), Liberia (−33), Sierra Leone (−35), and Bolivia (−37).

See also

• The Passport Index

References

1. Smith, Oliver (29 February 2016). "The world's most powerful passports". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
2. "Visa Restriction Index 2006 to 2016 2018". visaindex.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
3. Andrejevic, Mark and Volcic, Zala (2016). Commercial Nationalism: Selling the Nation and Nationalizing the Sell. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. ISBN 9781137500984
4. "Rights of Passage — Henley Passport Index 2018". Henley & Partners Passport Index. Henley & Partners Holdings Ltd. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018. ...what are the political factors governing the strength of your passport? Perhaps more importantly, if your passport is not serving you, what can you do to enhance it? The 2018 Henley Passport Index was designed with these questions in mind. Launched 9 January, and replacing the Henley Visa Restrictions Index, the Henley Passport Index provides a ranking
5. Abrahamian, Atossa Araxia (2015). The Cosmopolites: The Coming of the Global Citizen, pp. 70–93. Colombia Global Reports, New York. ISBN 9780990976363
6. "The Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index 2016" (PDF). henleyglobal.com. Henley & Partners. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
7. "Henley Passport Index 2008 to 2020". Henley Passport Index. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
8. Kalin, Christian H. Global Residence and Citizenship Handbook (5 ed.). Ideos Publications. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-3-9524052-7-7.
9. Kalin, Christian H. Global Residence and Citizenship Handbook (5 ed.). Ideos Publications. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-3-9524052-7-7.
10. "Henley Passport Index 2006 to 2018". Henley & Partners Passport Index. Henley & Partners Holdings Ltd. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018. The index and its contents are based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and supplemented, enhanced, and updated using extensive in-house research and open-source online data. The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations. Updated in real-time throughout the year, as and when visa-policy changes come into effect...On a fixed date each year, Henley & Partners receives exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), which forms the basis of the Henley Passport Index. In order to maintain the accuracy of the data provided by IATA in the face of constant updates to visa policy, and in order to create detailed visa lists for all 199 passports in our database, the Henley & Partners research team uses publicly available and reliable online sources to cross-check each passport against all 227 possible travel destinations. This research process is ongoing throughout the year. It is coupled with a rigorous monitoring system to pick up relevant visa-policy shifts.
11. "Henley Index: Japan tops 2020 list of world's most powerful passports". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
12. Madden, Duncan (10 January 2020). "The Most Powerful Passports In The World In 2020". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.

External links

• The Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index 2016
• Henley & Partners Passport Index
• Henley Passport Index ranking, as of 9 July 2018