A ranking of passport circulation power was released this Wednesday. Japan tops the list, with South Korea and Singapore in second place, and Iraq and Afghanistan in last place. The pandemic has aggravated the difficulties and freedoms of movement between countries, officials warn.

Since 2006, the Henley Passport Index, created by the company based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has been regularly monitoring the best passports for travel. The document states that the growing travel barriers introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in the biggest global mobility gap in the index's 16-year history.

In the assessment released, temporary restrictions are not taken into account. So, leaving aside current travel access conditions, passport holders at the top of their ranking (Japan) can, in theory, travel visa-free to 193 destinations. That's 166 more destinations than those with an Afghan passport, the worst on the list of 199, who are only allowed to enter 27 countries without acquiring a prior visa.


Europe tops the ranking

In the first places, the positions remain practically the same as in the last evaluation. South Korea is tied with Singapore in secondplace, while Germany and Spain are both joint third with 190 destinations. Fourth place is taken by Finland, Italy and Luxembourg, whose passports allow entry to 189 countries without the need for a visa.

As usual, European Union countries top the list, with the Netherlands and Sweden moving up one place to join Austria and Denmark in fifth place, with a total of 188 countries. Portugal is in sixth place with 187, along with Ireland, the United Kingdom and France.

After being in the lead in 2014, the United States has recovered a little ground and is now in seventh place along with Belgium, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland. In eighth place are Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Greece and Malta. The top ten is rounded off by Eastern European countries, namely Hungary in ninth place and Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia in tenth place.

Overall levels of freedom of movement have increased in recent years; in Henley's first report, in 2006, an individual could travel to 57 countries without the need for a prior visa. Today the number is almost double: 107 countries.







Source: Diário de Notícias
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