A new passport power ranking system has shown that Singaporeans are among the luckiest passport holders in the world, sporting the ability to just waltz into most countries without a visa.
And if they need one, they can just grab it on arrival. Yep.
It comes from the recent Arton Capital ranking, and it’s apparently the first time an Asian nation has come out at the top of the list, per CNBC.
In July this year, the Passport Index ranked 97 countries in order of how powerful their passports are, by their total visa-free score (VFS), with Singapore tying for the #1 spot with Germany.
Germany tied with Singapore as the most powerful passport with entry to 159 visa-free. Coming in second is Sweden and South Korea with 157.
Meanwhile, Australia’s passport listed at #16 in the Nomad Passport Index in March, where Sweden topped the power list.
But it redeemed itself in this Arton Capital ranking, pulling a power rank of seven, alongside New Zealand and Greece. Us Aussies can scoot into 153 countries sans passport, according to the list.
This most recent power list also saw a dip in America’s world power in the passport stakes, dropping to the sixth tier (still beating Australia), and falling behind the likes of Germany, Sweden, South Korea, Denmark, France, and of course, Singapore.
“While Singapore quietly climbed the ranks, the US passport has fallen down since President Donald Trump took office,” Arton Capital said in a statement.
And it’s hardly a surprise, really, given how much turmoil Trump has brought to the US travel industry since entering the White House, in particular with the travel ban fiasco.
Countries like Singapore will likely hold onto their powerful passports well into the future too, according to Philippe May, the Managing Director of Arton’s Singapore office.
“Small nations who are no threat to anyone as well as smart and open-minded nations, especially when there is a strong rule of law” are the most likely to improve, he told CNN.
