Singapore now has 'most powerful passport in the world': Index
The red Singapore passport has topped a global passport ranking index thanks to one more country removing visa requirements for Singaporeans.
Developed by Arton Capital, a financial advisory firm which provides investor programmes for residence and citizenship, the Global Passport Power Rank of 2017 ranks national passports by the cross-border access they bring, assigning a “visa-free score” according to the number of countries a passport holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival. Paraguay removed visa requirements for Singaporeans, giving the Singapore passport a visa-free score of 159.
Germany and Sweden, ranked second and third, have a score of 158 and 157, respectively.
Philippe May, Managing Director of Arton Capital’s Singapore office said, “For the first time ever an Asian country has the most powerful passport in the world.”
“It is a testament of Singapore’s inclusive diplomatic relations and effective foreign policy.”
Meanwhile, the United States passport has fallen in the ranking since President Donald Trump took office. It is now sixth on the index. Turkey and the Central African Republic recently revoked their visa-free status to US passport holders.
Here are the new top 10 passport power rankings:
1. 159 – Singapore
2. 158 – Germany
3. 157 – Sweden, South Korea
4. 156 – Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, United Kingdom
5. 155 – Luxemburg, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Portugal
6. 154 – Malaysia, Ireland, Canada, United States of America
7. 153 – Australia, Greece, New Zealand
8. 152 – Malta, Czech Republic, Iceland
9. 150 – Hungary
10. 149 – Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia
Corrected: No. 7 with a power ranking of 153 is Australia, not Austria.
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