Japan makes it to the toponce again as the most strongest passport of the world this year followed by manyother Asian countries in the top 10 list. The latest passport ranking of the 2nd quartal of 2021 has been released by Hanley Passport Index.
List of top passports in 2021
| Position (2021) | State | Visa-free marks (2021) | Position (2011) | Visa-free marks (2011) |
| 1 | Japan | 193 | 4 | 170 |
| 2 | Singapore | 192 | 9 | 164 |
| 3 | Germany | 191 | 2 | 172 |
| 3 | South Korea | 191 | 10 | 163 |
| 4 | Finland | 190 | 1 | 173 |
| 4 | Italy | 190 | 3 | 171 |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 190 | 3 | 171 |
| 4 | Spain | 190 | 4 | 170 |
| 5 | Austria | 189 | 6 | 168 |
| 5 | Denmark | 189 | 1 | 173 |
Highest ranked passports in 2021
For the previous 4 years, Japan is at the top, which is maintaining a strong passport strategy, regardless of the COVID-19 lockdowns from the past year. According to the statistics of the Air Transport Association (ATA), Japanese passport holders can travel to 193 countries in the world visa-free, which ranks Japan on the top in the HPI categorization.
Singapore achieved the second position offering visa-free access to 192 countries in the world. This country has also maintained its position among the top 10 for a long time now. Germany and South Korea got the third position. And the EU countries like Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Spain, got the 4th position maintaining visa-free access to 190. More EU lands make it to the top 10 where Austria and Denmark got the 5th position with 189 visa-free access.
Lowest ranked passports of 2021
The list of the countries that are having the least number of visa-free access of the countries in the world by HPI is given below:
| Position (2021) | State | Visa-free access (2021) | Position (2011) | Visa-free access (2011) |
| 110 | Afghanistan | 26 | 101 | 24 |
| 109 | Iraq | 28 | 100 | 28 |
| 108 | Syria | 29 | 93 | 37 |
| 107 | Pakistan | 32 | 99 | 31 |
| 106 | Yemen | 33 | 91 | 39 |
Afghanistan got the lowest rank in the passport ranking system, accessing the extremely less number (26) of visa-free countries. While Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen access to more visa-free countries as compare to Afghanistan, but unfortunately ranked extremely low.
The latest 2021 categorization reveals that there is a big difference in visa-free marks of the countries like Japan and Afghanistan as compared to the 1st categorization back in 2006.
Top emerging passport countries
According to the HPI categorization, the states like China and the UAE improved their position over the past 10 years. Their small improvements make their position stronger than before:
- China has increased its visa-free access by 22 in 2011, and then to 40 and now 77.
- UAE has increased its visa-free marks from 67 in 2011 to now 174.
Traveling towards other countries has become just an imagination in this present era. The reason behind this is no longer unfamiliar, which is COVID-19 & lockdowns that affected almost every country in the world.
How the ranking is considered?
The Hanely Passport Index (HPI), established in 2006, working on categorizing the top passports in the world, which are excellent for traveling. HPI modified its recent categorization, which reveals that in this post-pandemic duration which country is providing excellent offers for traveling as many countries in the world open their borders for foreigners.
The main theme of categorizing the list is the visa-free access of any specific country. Visa-free access basically points out three strategies:
- The countries to which a foreigner can travel without a visa;
- The countries which must require a visa from the foreigner;
- The countries which require electronic travel authorization (ETA).