6 countries share first place in the 2024 Henley Passport Index

Arabia Weather - 6 countries share first place in the “Henley” index of the most powerful passports for the year 2024 in terms of the possibility of visa-free travel to a record number of destinations around the world.

The Henley Index is based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The list prepared according to this classification included France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Singapore. Citizens of these countries can visit 194 destinations out of 227 around the world without the need for a visa.

Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and creator of the Passport Index concept, said that although the general trend over the 19-year history of the rankings has been toward expanding freedom of travel, the global mobility gap between the top and bottom of the index has become Now wider than ever.

He pointed out that the average number of destinations that travelers can reach without a visa has almost doubled, rising from 58 destinations in 2006 to 111 destinations in 2024. With the beginning of the new year, the countries ranked at the top of the list are now able to travel to 166 countries. Another, which is a truly astonishing number, compared to Afghanistan, which comes at the bottom of the rankings, where its citizens can access only 28 countries without a visa.

South Korea joins Finland and Sweden in second place with the ability to travel without a visa to 193 destinations, while Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands share third place, with 192 destinations accessible without a visa.

The top positions are largely dominated by European countries, with the UK rising twice to fourth place with visa-free access to 191 destinations, compared to just 188 destinations the previous year.

The Australian and New Zealand passport rankings have improved to sixth place with 189 visa-free destinations, while the United States maintains seventh place with visa-free access to 188 destinations.

The UAE has added 106 destinations to its ranking since 2014, achieving a significant jump of 44 places in the rankings from 55th to 11th place.

Source: Henley