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Even though millions of people are unable to travel abroad due to the pandemic, the ranking still places citizens of each country in order of the number of visa-free countries they can enter, which is theoretically the case in the current context.
Accordingly, Japan remains at the top with a passport granting visa-free access to 191 countries (equivalent to 191 points), Singapore is second with 190 points, and South Korea and Germany share third place with 189 points.
Although the US passport retained its 7th position with 185 points, the country was still removed from the list of "safe" countries according to the European Union's (EU) assessment. This decision significantly diminishes the passport's power and illustrates the consequences of the US failing to control the pandemic – as was the case with Brazil, according to Henley & Partners.
Henley & Partners noted that, while not including temporary travel restrictions imposed during Covid-19 in their assessment, the reality served as a "wake-up call when considering the extent of freedom of movement enjoyed by those who once held prestigious passports."
The EU only agreed to allow citizens from 14 countries to fly there when borders reopened on July 1st. These countries include Australia, Canada, Georgia, Algeria, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay. Some of these countries have modest rankings according to the latest Henley Passport Index, such as Algeria at 92nd place (51 points), Rwanda at 83rd place (60 points), and Tunisia at 74th place (69 points)...
Similarly, Brazil is not on the list of countries welcomed by the EU, despite officially ranking 19th in the overall ranking – thus, in reality, it ranks closer to Paraguay (36th in the index, with 142 points). And with Singapore absent from the EU list, the passport of the runner-up in the ranking is also less competitive than top-ranked countries like Japan or South Korea.
Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and inventor of the passport index concept, assesses that the recent EU decision has a strong impact in the current context.
Passport power rankings as of Q3/2020, based on the number of visa-free destinations:
1. Japan (191)
2. Singapore (190)
3. South Korea, Germany (189)
4. Italy, Finland, Spain, Luxembourg (188)
5. Denmark, Austria (187)
6. Sweden, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal (186)
7. USA, UK, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland (185)
8. Czech Republic, Greece, Malta, New Zealand (184)
9. Canada, Australia (183)
10. Hungary (182)
The least powerful passports belong to countries whose citizens are visa-free or only require a visa on arrival in fewer than 40 countries.
103. North Korea (39)
104. Libya, Nepal, Palestinian Territories (38)
105. Somalia, Yemen (33)
106. Pakistan (32)
107. Syria (29)
108. Iraq (28)
109. Afghanistan (26)
Due to changes in the rankings of other countries, in the third quarter of 2020, Vietnam's passport ranking dropped one place to 89th out of 107 compared to the second quarter, despite maintaining the same 54 points. Cambodia, Mali, and Niger were tied for the same rank. Meanwhile, Malaysia ranked 14th (178 points), Brunei 23rd (166 points), Timor-Lester 57th (95 points), Thailand 66th (78 points), Indonesia 73rd (71 points), the Philippines 76th (67 points), and Laos 92nd (50 points).
