The Henley Passport Index analysis is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The analysis has produced a list of countries whose citizens have the most visa-free or visa-on-arrival access.
Accordingly, Japan and Singapore share the top position. Citizens of these two countries are visa-free or have visa access to 189 countries around the world.
Next, Germany and South Korea ranked 2nd. In 3rd place are the passports of Denmark (unchanged from last year), Italy (unchanged) and Luxembourg (up 1 place). In 4th place are the passports of France (down 1 place), Sweden (down 1 place) and Spain (unchanged).
Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland are currently ranked in 5th place, unchanged from 2018. The United States and the United Kingdom, which shared the top spot in 2015, have dropped to 6th place this year. Norway has also dropped one place: from 5th to 6th compared to last year, while Belgium, Canada, Greece and the Republic of Ireland remain unchanged (6th).
Malta ranked 7th, followed by the Czech Republic at 8th, and Australia, Iceland, New Zealand and Lithuania all in 9th place. Of these, New Zealand's passport fell one place (from 8th to 9th). New Zealand passport holders can travel visa-free to 180 countries.
Rounding out the top 10 most powerful passports in the world are Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) passport is the fastest climber, entering the top 20 for the first time, with the number of destinations UAE citizens can travel to visa-free has doubled to 167 in the past five years.
