Chile has Latin America’s most powerful passport in 2022
Japan, Singapore, and South Korea have the world’s most powerful passports as the planet continues to recover from the covid-19 pandemic, reversing pre-pandemic rankings dominated by European nations.
A Japanese passport offers easy entry (visa-free or visa on arrival) to 193 countries, one more than those of Singapore and South Korea, according to the latest Passport Index from Henley & Partners, an immigration consultancy.
As recently as 2017, Asian countries barely featured among the top 10 most accepted passports in the world, according to the index.
Europe’s dominance has gradually diminished, and Germany is now behind South Korea. The UK is sixth, with access to 187 countries, while the US is seventh with a score of 186, the latest ranking shows.
Brazil’s passport ranked 19th among the most powerful in the world, alongside Argentina’s, giving it easy access to 170 countries. Despite this, Brazil is below Chile, ranked 16th, with facilitated entry to 174 countries.
THE MOST POWERFUL PASSPORTS IN THE WORLD IN 2022
| Country | Position | Number of countries with facilitated access |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 1 | 193 |
| Singapore | 2 | 192 |
| South Korea | 2 | 192 |
| Germany | 3 | 190 |
| Spain | 3 | 190 |
| Finland | 4 | 189 |
| Italy | 4 | 189 |
| Luxemburg | 4 | 189 |
| Austria | 5 | 188 |
| Denmark | 5 | 188 |
| Netherlands | 5 | 188 |
| Sweden | 5 | 188 |
| Chile | 16 | 174 |
| Brazil | 19 | 170 |
| Argentina | 19 | 170 |
Russian travel documents rank 50th, giving easy access to 119 nations. China (excluding Hong Kong) ranked 69th with access to 80 countries, India ranked 87th, and Afghanistan’s passport is the least useful, taking its holder to only 27 countries.
THE WORLD’S LEAST POWERFUL PASSPORTS IN 2022
| Country | Position | Number of countries with facilitated access |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | 104 | 41 |
| Kosovo | 104 | 41 |
| Lybia | 104 | 41 |
| North Korea | 105 | 40 |
| Nepal | 106 | 38 |
| Palestinian Authority | 106 | 38 |
| Somalia | 107 | 35 |
| Yemen | 108 | 34 |
| Pakistan | 109 | 32 |
| Syria | 110 | 29 |
| Afghanistan | 112 | 27 |
The index, which uses 17 years of data, helps wealthy individuals and governments assess the value of citizenships worldwide based on which passports offer the most visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry.
With global travel yet to fully recover from the constraints of the covid-19 pandemic, the index offers only a sense of the best documents as the world emerges from the restrictions.
With information from Valor Econômico
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