New Telegraph

Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Germany top list of best passports in 2021

As the world looks to more travel activities in 2021, Japan passport has continued to maintain the top spot as world’s best passport to have, as its gives its holders access to about 191 destinations across the world without a prior visa.

This development as reported by Eturbonews. com is according to the latest results from the Henley Passport Index, the original ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

Japan is taking the lead this year for the third consecutive year either alone or jointly with Singapore. Asia Pacific (APAC) region countries’ dominance of the index — which is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) — now seems firmly established. Singapore sits in second position, with access to 190 destinations while South Korea alongside Germany come third, with both having a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 189. Others on the top 10 region include: New Zealand, placed seventh, with visa-free access to 185 destinations; Australia, eighth, with access to 184 destinations.

Meanwhile, US and UK share seventh position as well, with US passport holders able to travel to fewer than 75 destinations, while UK passport holders currently have access to fewer than 70. Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of leading residence and citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, said that the latest ranking provides an opportunity to reflect on the extraordinary upheaval that characterised 2020.

“Just a year ago all indications were that the rates of global mobility would continue to rise, that travel freedom would increase, and that holders of powerful passports would enjoy more access than ever before.

The global lockdown negated these glowing projections, and as restrictions begin to lift, the results from the latest index are a reminder of what passport power really means in a world upended by the pandemic.” The Global Mobility Report 2021 Q1 also highlights new research by Deep Knowledge Group, overlaying data from the Covid-19 Risk and Safety Assessment of the economic, social, and health stability of 250 countries and regions with the latest Henley Passport Index results. What emerges is that for developed and developing nations alike, travel freedom is currently not only the result of a lack of social freedom or poor economic development but also a failure of risk management, health readiness, and monitoring and detection.

In other words, global immobility is no longer solely the plight of citizens of less advanced countries. The UA E now has a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 173 and holds 16th spot on the ranking. This is a stunning ascent when compared to the position it held at the index’s inception in 2006, when the country ranked 62nd, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of just 35.

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