18 July 2023 08:13 pm Views - 6513
Singapore has replaced Japan as the most powerful passport among all passports in the world, as it allows visa-free access to as many as 192 global destinations, according to the latest ranking published by Henley Passport Index, released on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka has ranked 95th in the index along with Libya, with 41 countries granting visa-free travel or visa-on-arrival to holders of Sri Lankan passports.
The index, which is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), measures visa-free access to destinations around the globe. Singapore citizens can enjoy visa-free access to 192 out of 227 travel destinations worldwide.
In the latest ranking, Japan, which was in the top spot for the last five years, dropped to third, with visa-free access to 189 nations around the world. It shares its position with Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea and Sweden.
The Sri Lankan passport was ranked 103rd in 2022 and 107th in 2021.
The index ranks countries based on the number of nationalities they allow entry to without a prior visa. Small island nations and African states dominate the top 20 most open countries, while Afghanistan, North Korea, Papua New Guinea and Turkmenistan score zero, allowing no visa-free access.
India ranked 80th on the index along with Togo and Senegal, with visa-free access to 57 countries.
The US, which once topped the ranking nearly a decade ago, slid two places to eighth place. The UK, after a Brexit-induced slump, jumped two places to fourth, a position it last held in 2017.
At the bottom of the list is Afghanistan with easy access to 27 destinations. Yemen (99), Pakistan (100), Syria (101) and Iraq (102) round up the bottom five.