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Paraguay has removed visa requirements for Singaporeans, propelling the city state’s passport to the top of Passport Index’s most powerful ranking – with a visa-free score of 159.
Historically, the top ten most powerful passports in the world were mostly European, with Germany having the lead for the past two years.
Since early 2017, the number one position was shared with Singapore, which was steadily going up.
Other Asian passports in the top 20 include those of South Korea, Japan and Malaysia.
According to Philippe May, managing director of Arton Capital’s Singapore office: “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.”
While Singapore quietly climbed the ranks, the US passport has fallen down since president Trump took office.
Most recently Turkey and the Central African Republic revoked their visa-free status to US passport holders.
The Passport Index is the world’s reference on everything passports.
Developed by Arton Capital, a leading global advisory for residence and citizenship solutions, the index has become the most popular interactive online tool to display, sort and rank the world’s passports.
“Visa-free global mobility has become an important factor in today’s world,” shared Armand Arton founder and president of Arton Capital.
“More and more people every year invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a second passport to offer better opportunity and security for their families.”
New top ten passport power ranking:
- 159 – Singapore.
- 158 – Germany.
- 157 – Sweden, South Korea.
- 156 – Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, United Kingdom.
- 155 – Luxemburg, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Portugal.
- 154 – Malaysia, Ireland, Canada, United States of America.
- 153 – Austria, Greece, New Zealand.
- 152 – Malta, Czech Republic, Iceland.
- 150 – Hungary.
- 149 – Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia.
Source: breakingtravelnews.com
