Henley Index: World's most powerful passports in 2019

LONDON: Japan and Singapore have shared the top position in global passport index of 2019, indicating the advancement of Asian countries in an international ranking released by a London-based firm, Henley & Partners.

The two Asian countries shared the top spot in the ranking for the world’s most powerful passports in 2019. According to the report, the citizens of Japan and Singapore can get visa-free access to 190 destinations around the world.

South Korea, an Asian country, along with Finland, Germany from Europe have jointly ranked on the second top position in the list.

In European countries, Denmark, Italy and Luxembourg are currently present in the third position, whereas, France, Spain and Sweden are on fourth.

The latest indexing put the passports of the two global powers including United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) on the sixth position as Austria, Netherlands and Portugal’s passports stand one point above.

Among Muslim countries, United Arab Emirates (UAE) is on lead with 15th number as its citizens are having visa-free access to 172 countries.

China is standing on 72nd position, India on 82, Pakistan is sharing the 104th position with Somalia, whereas, Afghanistan and Iraq are put on the 106 and 107th number respectively.