Highlights
- Australia ranks as the second most powerful passport on Passport Index
- New Zealand has the world’s most powerful passport
- Australians currently have access to 128 countries
The latest has revealed the most powerful passports amidst the global health crisis that has crippled global travel in 2020.
The pandemic has thrown the world into chaos with many nations shutting down their borders and restricting arrivals of international travellers.
“Despite the high volatility of passport power throughout the past year, Passport Index has updated passport rankings in real-time, displaying the true effect of the pandemic on passport rankings,” the by Arton Capital states.
Their have revealed New Zealand is the world’s most powerful passport with access to 129 countries.
Australia comes in a close second with other countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Japan to hold the world’s second most powerful passport amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
With visa-free access to 85 countries and visa-on-arrival in 43 countries, Australia has access to 128 countries at the moment.
Australian passport holders can travel to the United Kingdom, Sweden, Singapore, Japan, Germany, France among others.
World’s top ten most powerful passports:
1. New Zealand
2. Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, South Korea, Japan, Australia
3. Sweden, Belgium, France, Finland, Italy, Spain
4. UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Lithuania, Norway, Iceland, Canada
5. Malta, Slovenia, Latvia
6. Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Liechtenstein
7. Slovakia
8. Cyprus, Croatia, Monaco
9. Romania, Bulgaria
10. San Marino, Andorra, Uruguay
For Australians, there is a ban on all overseas travel unless granted an exemption and New Zealanders have been advised not to travel abroad.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg following Tuesday night’s budget has said .
“International travel including both tourists and international students is assumed to remain largely closed off until late next year and then gradually return over time. And a vaccine, to be available around the end of 2021 is one of the assumptions in the budget,” Mr Frydenberg said in his post-budget speech at the National Press Club of Australia.
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How powerful is the Indian passport?
The Indian passport ranks 58th on the list with visa-free access to 52 countries with visa-free access to 18 countries and visa-on-arrival in 34 countries.
Indian passport holders can travel to countries like Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Bahrain, Iran, Maldives, Serbia among others.
Find out how powerful is your passport here
World’s least powerful passports:
Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which have a score of 31 ranked on the bottom of this ranking.
They are followed by Syria (34), Somalia (35) and Yemen (36).
1. Afghanistan, Iraq
2. Syria
3. Somalia
4. Yemen
5. Iran, Palestinian Territories
6. Pakistan
7. Myanmar, North Korea
8. Ethiopia, Lebanon, Libya, Nepal, Eritrea
9. Bangladesh, South Sudan
10. Sudan
The Passport Index ranked the 193 United Nations member countries based on how many nations their passports granted visa-free access to, or allowed visitors to obtain a visa on arrival.
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If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
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