The New Results Are In: How Does Your Passport Rank?

The New Results Are In: How Does Your Passport Rank?

This week, the Passport Index released its 2017 passport rankings, which ranks passports from around the world based on the number of countries the passport holder can travel to without a visa.  For the third year in a row, Germany ranked number one in the world, with a visa-free score of 158.  The United States tied with Denmark, Finland, France, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, and the United Kingdom with a visa-free score of 156.

The worst passport in the world for visa-free travel is Afghanistan, with only 23 countries where passport holders can travel without obtaining a visa.  A number of countries improved greatly from last year’s rankings.  The Marshall Islands saw the most significant change, adding 35 more visa-free countries with its passport.  Both Palau and Micronesia added 34 more visa-free countries and Peru, Tuvalu, and Solomon Islands had an increase of 33 visa-free countries. These changes are mostly attributed to a visa-free agreement signed by the European Union.

Ghana, Sri Lanka, Cyrpus, and South Korea had the greatest negative change in visa-free travel, with each country losing 4 countries passport holders are eligible to travel to without a visa.

The best passport rankings:

• Germany (158)
• Sweden (157)
• Singapore (157)
• Denmark (156)
• Finland (156)
• France (156)
• Spain (156)
• Switzerland (156)
• Norway (156)
• United Kingdom (156)
• United States (156)

The worst passport rankings:

• Iran (37)
• Eritrea (37)
• Sudan (37)
• Bangaldesh (35)
• Sri Lanka (35)
• South Sudan (34)
• Ethiopia (34)
• Somalia (30)
• Syria (29)
• Iraq (28)
• Pakistan (26)
• Afghanistan (23)

How does your passport rank?  Largely, some of us are very lucky to have the passports that we have.  I know I sometimes complain the few times I’ve gone to a country where a visa is required, but it is nice to know that my passport gives me great flexibility in traveling the world.  Traveling is a tremendous experience, and hopefully as the world continues to grow more interconnected, more and more people from around the world have have more ease in traveling!