The 2018 Global Passport Power Rank, produced by advisory firm Arton Capital, has just been released, What's interesting is, it claims that South Korea is now tied with Singapore for the post of most powerful passport in the world, putting the country on the map for more than just Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
The list ranks all of the passports of the world by their “total visa-free score,” where a point is given for each country that holders can visit without a visa, with a visa on arrival, or using electronic travel authorisation.
Both Singapore and South Korea have a score of 162, meaning holders of these passports can now easily visit 162 countries, either visa-free or by gaining a visa on arrival.
Singapore became the first Asian country to hold the top spot back in October 2017. South Korea moved up the list thanks to Uzbekistan granting visa-free access to both South Korea and Singapore.
The two counties are now followed closely by Germany and Japan, who both have a score of 161. The UK comes in tied fourth place with a score of 159, while the US comes in tied fifth, with 158.
At the bottom of the list is Afghanistan with a score of just 26.
Top 10
(World rank / country / visa-free countries)
1. South Korea, Singapore 162
2. Germany, Japan 161
3. Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Italy, France, Spain 160
4. Luxembourg, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, United Kingdom 159
5. Switzerland, Ireland, United States, Canada 158
6. Greece, Malaysia 157
7. Malta, Czechia (Czech Republic), Australia 156
8. New Zealand 155
9. Hungary, Iceland 154
10. Slovenia, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Lativa 153
In Southeast Asia, there has been no change in rank, however some countries get higher score compared to last year, which means the said country can travel to more destination without visa, with a visa on arrival, or use electronic travel authorisation.
(Ranking in Southeast Asia / World rank / Visa-free countries)
Source : Business Insider | Passport Index 2018 |
