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2023 "World's Best Passport" ranking released! Canada eighth! The first place turned out to be...

author:WildCanada

The ranking of the "World's Best Passports" 2023 has just been released! The ranking is compiled and published by the Henley Passport Index, which is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the world's largest database of travel information, and corrected and improved by the research team at Henley & Partners. Therefore, it can be said to be very authoritative.

With 18 years of historical data, the Henley Passport Index is the only index in its class based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations were compared. The Henley Passport Index is updated quarterly and is considered the best reference standard for global citizens and sovereign nations to assess passports' rankings within the global mobility range.

So let's take a look, what is the latest ranking in 2023?

2023 "World's Best Passport" ranking released! Canada eighth! The first place turned out to be...

Source: Henley Passport Index

1. Japan: visa-free 193 countries

2023 "World's Best Passport" ranking released! Canada eighth! The first place turned out to be...

Source: Forbes

At the top of the list of the world's best passports is Japan, which is also the fifth consecutive year that Japanese passports have topped the list. Japanese citizens can now travel visa-free to 193 of the 227 travel destinations. Although the world has become turbulent under the influence of the new crown pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the gold content of Japanese passports has not declined.

Research by the Henley Passport Index shows a strong link between economic strength and passport strength. Only 6% of the world's passports allow their holders visa-free access to more than 70% of the world's countries, and 17% of passports allow their holders visa-free access to more than four-fifths of the world's countries. The top-ranked Japanese passport gives visa-free access to 85% of the world's countries, which together account for 98% of the global economy (Japan's own GDP contribution is about 5%).

2. Singapore/South Korea: visa-free for 192 countries

In joint second place are Singapore and South Korea, with 192 visa-free countries. The Singapore passport tied for the top spot with Japan in 2021, but Japan gained visa-free access to another country and eventually dumped Singapore to take the top spot.

3. Germany/Spain: visa-free access to 190 countries

4. Finland/Italy/Luxembourg: visa-free access to 189 countries

5. Austria/Denmark/Netherlands/Sweden: visa-free access to 188 countries

6. France/Ireland/Portugal/UK: visa-free access to 187 countries

7. Belgium/Czech Republic/New Zealand/Norway/Switzerland/United States: visa-free access to 186 countries

8. Australia/Canada/Greece/Malta: visa-free access to 185 countries

9. Hungary/Poland: visa-free access to 184 countries

10. Lithuania/Slovakia: visa-free access to 183 countries

Among them, Canadian passports are visa-free for 185 countries and regions, ranking eighth. The number of days of visa-free stay with a Canadian passport in different countries (regions) also varies, including the United States (6 months), the United Kingdom (6 months), Hong Kong (90 days), Macau (30 days), Taiwan (30 days), Japan (90 days), South Korea (6 months), Singapore (30 days), France (3 months), Germany (3 months), Finland (3 months), Switzerland (3 months), Monaco (90 days), Australia ( Electronic signature), New Zealand (3 months), etc.

The Canadian passport is also the only passport in the world that can enter the United States without pre-registration.

2023 "World's Best Passport" ranking released! Canada eighth! The first place turned out to be...

Source: Narcity

The following countries and regions can allow Canadian passport holders to stay visa-free for 6 months.

2023 "World's Best Passport" ranking released! Canada eighth! The first place turned out to be...

Source: Today's headlines

Canadian passport holders can also enter most European countries visa-free for stays of up to 90 days. These include Schengen Area members that require ETIAS from 2023, as well as Schengen Area candidate countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania.

2023 "World's Best Passport" ranking released! Canada eighth! The first place turned out to be...

Source: Today's headlines

Overall, the gold content of Canadian passports is quite high.

Chinese passports rank 66th, visa-free 80 countries, in an upward trend.

2023 "World's Best Passport" ranking released! Canada eighth! The first place turned out to be...

Source: Henley Passport Index

Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners, said, "For global citizens, the measure of the economic mobility and financial value provided by their passports is to look at the percentage of global GDP earned by their visa-free countries. Our latest research on how much global economic access each passport can provide is a very useful tool for investors and provides new insights into the world's widening inequality and wealth gap. ”

Overall, Asia and Europe occupy the top 10 spots on the list. But British and US passports have fallen sharply in the rankings, with no sign of tying for the top spot nearly a decade ago.

The Henley Passport Index also pointed out that the strengthening of passport power in Gulf countries is a key trend in recent years. The UAE has climbed from 49th to 15th place at an astonishing pace over the past decade, with visa-free access to 178 countries and nearly 70% of global GDP. Kuwait and recent World Cup host Qatar will sign a visa-free agreement with the European Union this year and are also expected to significantly improve passport rankings in the near future.

The bottom dozens of global passport rankings have also been counted, namely:

1. Afghanistan: visa-free for 27 countries

2. Iraq: visa-free for 29 countries

3. Syria: visa-free for 30 countries

4. Pakistan: visa-free for 32 countries

5. Yemen: visa-free for 34 countries

6. Somalia: visa-free for 35 countries

7. Nepal/Palestine: visa-free for 38 countries

8. North Korea: visa-free for 40 countries

9. Bangladesh/Kosovo/Libya: visa-free for 41 countries

10. Congo/Lebanon/Sri Lanka/Sudan: visa-free 42 countries

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