If you have a visa or visa-free access to enter a country your journey through a border is often much easier.
As the modern world becomes ever more interconnected one would expect an increase of visa-free travel relationships between countries. But with the seemingly growing list of conflicts such freedoms can vary significantly depending on nationality.
So which country has the most powerful passport for visa-free travel?
Methodology
Each year Henley & Partners publishes a “Visa Restriction Index“, a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom that their citizens enjoy.
Points are awarded to countries for the number of destinations that offer visa-free travel to their citizens. e-Visas are treated the same as visas on arrival. Where the conditions for obtaining an e-visa are straightforward (fee, return ticket, hotel reservation), a visa-free point was assigned.
Analysis
Best and worst passports for travel
| Visa-free Rank | Country | Visa-free Destinations for Citizens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 177 |
| 2 | Sweden | 176 |
| 3 | Italy | 175 |
| 3 | France | 175 |
| 3 | Spain | 175 |
| 3 | Finland | 175 |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 175 |
| 8 | United States | 174 |
| 8 | Denmark | 174 |
| 8 | Belgium | 174 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 174 |
…
| Visa-free Rank | Country | Visa-free Destinations for Citizens |
|---|---|---|
| 188 | Palestine, State of | 37 |
| 188 | Sudan | 37 |
| 188 | Eritrea | 37 |
| 188 | Nepal | 37 |
| 188 | Ethiopia | 37 |
| 188 | Iran, Islamic Republic of | 37 |
| 194 | Libya | 36 |
| 195 | Syrian Arab Republic | 32 |
| 196 | Somalia | 31 |
| 197 | Iraq | 30 |
| 198 | Pakistan | 29 |
| 199 | Afghanistan | 25 |
Citizens in Western countries enjoy the most freedoms to travel. The top 10 countries by number of visa-free destinations for passport holders consists mostly of European nations.
No European countries in the bottom 10 list of countries for visa-free travel, however. Sadly, many Middle Eastern and African countries that have suffered war and poor international relationships make up most of this list.
Did you know? Citizens of North Korea can travel to 42 countries without a visa (should they be granted permission to travel). Surprisingly, 20 other countries have fewer visa-free destinations than North Korea.
Year-on-year changes
Visa-free travel between countries has increased from 18,003 in 2013 to 19,072 in 2016, with a slight dip between 2014 and 2015.
Of 199 countries between 2013 – 2016, 25 countries saw places their citizens can visit without a visa decrease, 13 had no change, and 161 saw an increase.
Out of the 25 of the countries that saw visa-free travel reduce, 16 were African. Comparing all African countries, it is the only region to see a decrease between 2013 – 2016 for visa-free travel.
Regional differences
Citizens of the 27 EU member states automatically qualify for the largest freedom of movement anywhere in the world. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, cumulatively European citizens enjoy the fewest travel visa requirements to travel worldwide (note, the European region includes 22 non EU nations).
| Region | Count of countries |
|---|---|
| Middle East | 13 |
| Africa | 53 |
| Americas | 35 |
| Asia and the Pacific | 50 |
| Europe | 49 |
However, the cumulative number of visa-free destinations does not take into account region size. Europe has the largest cumulative count of visa-free destinations, but it also contains the second largest number of countries.
Adjusting for countries in each region (cumulative visa free destinations per region / count of countries), European citizens still fare best in 2016, and all years post 2012 for that matter.
This adjustment also highlights the fact large differences in visa restrictions between regions. On average in 2016, African citizens could travel to about 53 countries without a visa. In contrast European citizens could visit 146 destinations without a visa — a massive difference even when you ignore the EU freedom of movement area.
Improvements
Visa-free travel represents only part of the movement of people around the world. Consequently, numbers on all types of entries by country would be very interesting to compare, for example; what countries issue the most business / tourism / long-term visas etc?
tl;dr
- The passports that have the most visa-free destinations for holders in 2016 from a total of 199 countries: 1. Germany (177), 2. Sweden (176), 3. Italy, France, Finland, UK (175).
- The passports that have the least visa-free destinations for holders in 2016 from a total of 199 countries: 197. Iraq (30), 198. Pakistan (29), 199. Afghanistan (25).
- European citizens enjoy the least travel restrictions being allowed to travel, on average, to 146 countries without requiring a visa. Citizens of African nations on the other hand fare the worst, with only 53 countries welcoming them without a visa.
Acknowledgements
- A big thank-you to Henley & Partners for publishing their “Visa Restriction Index” report from which I obtained visa requirements.
Get the Data
- Get all the data used in this blog post on Google Sheets.