Aranking of the most powerful passports across the world has put the Canadian passport among the top global tiers, meaning that those of us who are citizens in what was recently ranked the second-best country in the world can travel the globe with relative ease.
Passport Index, an online agency that curates, sorts and ranks the world’s passports, dropped its 2023 Global Passport Power Rank, and Canada landed in the fifth-highest grouping alongside countries such as Malta, Lithuania, Slovakia, Australia, and the United States of America. The ranking is based on a “mobility score,” a measure of how easy it is for holders of a passport to travel elsewhere.
The global passport index reported that Canada has visa-free access to a total of 121 countries and visa-on-arrival for 52 countries. Canadians would also be required to obtain a visa to visit 25 countries prior to arrival, including destinations such as China, Algeria, Iran, Niger, Syria, Venezuela and the Russian Federation.
Canada’s 2023 ranking ties with that of the United States, which has visa-free access, visa-on-arrival and required visas to the same number of countries.
Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia and Liechtenstein all landed in the sixth tier, with Estonia and Latvia performing highest with visa-free access to 124 countries.
So, which passport is considered to be the most powerful? According to the Passport Index, the United Arab Emirates remains number one. The U.A.E. secured a total mobility score of 180 with visa-free access to 127 countries, visa-on-arrival for 53 countries, and a required visa for only 18 global destinations.
A handful of European countries followed suit, with Sweden, Germany, Finland, Spain, France, and Italy landing at the top of the second tier, with visa-free access to 132 countries. The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, and Switzerland also landed in the second tier, receiving a mobility score of 176 with visa-free access to 131 countries.
Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Norway, Poland, Ireland and South Korea made up the third tier, receiving mobility scores of 175. Denmark tops that grouping with visa-free access to 131 countries.
At the very bottom of the 2023 global passport ranking are Somalia (46), Iraq (43), Syria (42), and Afghanistan (41) with visa-free access to no more than 11 countries worldwide.
A previous ranking of world passports had Canada in the seventh grouping — so while our score still isn’t perfect, it’s definitely improving, and a win is a win, right?
This article’s cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
Source: MTL blog
