The Passport Index for 2020 has just been released, ranking the strongest passports in the world. Passports of 193 United Nations member countries and 6 territories for a total of 199 are considered.
The Passport Index is the original interactive passport ranking tool in the world. Invented and empowered by Arton Capital, it is the only real-time global ranking of the world’s passports, updated as frequently as new visa waivers and changes are implemented.
Data is based on official information provided by governments, updated in real-time with intelligence obtained through crowdsourcing and enhanced with proprietary research from highly credible sources.
To determine the individual rank of each passport, a three-tier method is applied:
– Mobility Score (MS) – includes visa-free (VF), visa on arrival (VOA), eTA and eVisa (if issued within 3 days)
– VF portion of their score vs VOA
– United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index 2018 (UNDP HDI) is used as a tie-breaker. The UNDP HDI is a significant measure on the country’s perception abroad.
South Africa came tied with Dominica at 38th place on the ranking, with a score of 72 countries. It is also the strongest passport in Africa.
Other African countries on the list include Botswana in 45th place (65 countries), Lesotho and Tunisia in 47th (63 countries) and eSwatini, Zambia and Malawi in 49th place (61 countries). Ghana and Namibia round out the top 50 (60 countries).
New Zealand has been ranked as having the world’s most powerful passport with a score of 129 countries, followed by Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Ireland, South Korea, Japan and Australia, all with a score of 128.
In third place were Sweden, Belgium, France, Finland, Italy and Spain, while the UK joined the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Lithuania, Norway, Iceland and Canada in fourth place.
View the full index HERE.
Picture: Facebook / Home Affairs
