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This is officially the world’s most powerful passport, according to a new ranking

The same country tops this index for the fourth year in a row

Liv Kelly
Written by
Liv Kelly
Contributing Writer
UAE passport on a world map
Photograph: Shutterstock
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Everyone needs a passport when they travel, but not all passports were created equal – there’s actually a huge spectrum of passport power which depends on how many countries you can enter visa-free. 

And a new index by Arnot Capital has been published, with the UAE claiming the crown as the most powerful of them all for the fourth year in a row. 

Why? Well, if you carry a UAE passport, you have visa-free access to an impressive 133 countries (that’s around 90 percent of places). Pretty powerful, eh?

The rest of the top 20 is dominated by European countries, with Spain, Finland, France and Germany rounding out the top five. However, it’s not a strong outlook for everyone – this year, the UK passport has dropped 10 places from 22nd to 32nd place.

Though Brits can still enter 118 places visa-free (only 15 fewer than UAE citizens), other countries have simply overtaken them – you can read more about the UK’s ranking here

So, where will your passport get you? Have a look at the top 30 below, or check out the top 100 on Arnot Capital’s website

These are the world’s 30 most powerful passports

  1. UAE
  2. Spain 
  3. Finland
  4. France
  5. Germany 
  6. Belgium 
  7. Italy 
  8. Denmark 
  9. Netherlands
  10. Luxembourg 
  11. Austria
  12. Portugal 
  13. Norway 
  14. Switzerland 
  15. Greece 
  16. Ireland 
  17. Sweden 
  18. Poland
  19. Hungary 
  20. Czech Republic
  21. South Korea
  22. Estonia
  23. Croatia
  24. Slovakia
  25. Japan
  26. Slovenia
  27. Latvia
  28. New Zealand
  29. Liechtenstein
  30. Singapore 

To compare, take a look at the Henley Passport Index and VisaGuide’s ranking here

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