Passports (Flash 90 photo)
The ranking of the most and least powerful passports in the world in 2023 reveals a very interesting global picture, but places Israel in a not so flattering 51st place. Depending on your passport, travel can be as simple as booking flights, finding a hotel and then just going.
But for many around the world, it’s not that easy – a number of passport holders need to obtain a travel/tourist visa before arrival. These visas usually require approval from the destination country’s government which can take weeks or months. Holders of a Japanese passport, for example, can visit 193 countries without prior approval (almost every country on earth). Afghans, on the other hand, can only visit 27 countries with the same level of ease.
Visas are imposed by some countries to facilitate monitoring of visitors, allowing the country to assess whether said passport holder may pose a risk of illegal immigration, crime, acts of terrorism or covert surveillance. Israel by the way is only in 51st place.
For example, both Russia and China require US passport holders to obtain visas before travel, and vice versa. When it comes to the most powerful passports, most of the top 20 are issued by countries in Asia or Europe, with the exception of New Zealand and the United States. Due to multiple ties in the ranking the US technically ranks 17th, with visa-free access to 187 countries, compared to Norway, New Zealand and Switzerland.
Ranked 66th, Ukraine’s passport has seen drastic improvement over the past decade, and currently grants visa-free access to 144 countries. It is yet to be seen how this will change following the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Many of the less powerful passports come from war-torn and politically unstable countries. Because travel visas are usually required to deal with illegal activity, these countries are often flagged whether rightly or wrongly. One of the immediate standouts among the less powerful passports is North Korea. The isolated country has visa-free access to 40 countries, ranking it above eight other passports on the list.
Most North Koreans who travel abroad do so only under very special circumstances for work, study, or sports competitions. Leisure travel outside of North Korea does not occur, but technically, North Koreans can visit countries such as Haiti, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Palestine, and Kyrgyzstan, among others, without visa.
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