In collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global residence and citizenship planning firm, Henley & Partners (H&P) have released the 2016 Visa Restriction Index which catalogues and ranks countries according to the travel freedom their citizen enjoys.
218 countries and territories were analysed and then ranked according to the number of countries that citizens can travel to without a visa. The highest ranked, and therefore most powerful, passport this year is Germany with visa-free access to 177 countries around the world.
Sweden comes in close at second, with visa-free access to 176 out of 218 countries and territories worldwide. Tied at third place with access to 175 countries are Finland, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
From 2013 to 2015, Malaysia ranked in the premier group, making it the top 10 most powerful passports in those years. But this year, Malaysia dropped three spots to 12th in the 2016 index alongside Liechtenstein and Slovenia, which offer their citizens visa-free access to 164 countries. This is still a respectable rank, considering that 218 countries were taken into account.
H&P emphasised the importance of investment migration in relation to passport rankings. Countries that offer residence and citizenship-by-migration programs see a steady growth in performance and now feature in the top 30 of the index.
Top 10 most powerful passports
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