Japan rated world’s number one passport in latest rankings

INTERNATIONAL. A new passport index from Sovereign Man rates Japan as having the world’s most powerful passport. Its compiler claims its qualitatively-driven ranking methodology addresses the shortcomings of a number of other passport indexes already available in the public domain.

The Sovereign Man Global Passport Ranking Index rates the Japanese passport as the world’s most powerful

When it comes to appraising the value of a passport in the Sovereign Man Global Passport Ranking Index, it is not only the number of visa-free destinations a passport gives access to that matters (such as in the Henley Passport Index, as reported), but also the quality of each visa-free country.

Sovereign Man’s methodology also measures how attractive each country is for travellers based on an equation giving equal weighting to the accessible country’s international arrivals numbers and GDP.

As well as displaying an overall passport score, the ranking list also displays the number of visa-free countries the passport has access to, an overall grade from A+ to F and an indicator of access to the most attractive countries or regions (Sovereign Man rates these to be the EU, the US, the UK, Canada, China and Japan).

The rankings also show each individual passport’s access to the world’s share of GDP, Surface Area, Population and UNESCO Heritage Sites.

This year’s rankings place Japan as the most desirable passport under the Sovereign Man method, with the top five rounded out by Singapore (which alongside Japan is the only passport to achieve an A+ rating), San Marino, South Korea and Brunei.

The top ten passports in the Sovereign Man Global Passport Ranking with their credentials shown in detail (above) and a list of the top 100 (below) – click images to enlarge

Note: For the 2021 Sovereign Man Global Passport Ranking Index, the compiler opted to use pre-pandemic numbers for arrivals and GDP in order to avoid huge ranking distortions.

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