The passport “strength” is mostly measured by the number of countries for which citizens do not need visas.
It is well-known that Germany is one of the strongest countries in the world in many respects – from its automotive industry to excellent sports results. So, it is not surprising that one of the categories in which Germany is at the top of the world is also its passport “strength”, which is the strongest in the world for the second year running, reports Večernji List on June 27, 2017.
According to a survey conducted by the Passport Index, the greatest freedom of travel in the world is enjoyed by Germans who, just with their passports and without the need to have a visa, can visit as many as 159 countries.
The passport value is determined by a series of parameters, of which the visa is the most important. Although the Croatian passport has improved substantially from the 1990s and has now reached the fifteenth place, which it shares with Romania, Bulgaria and Argentina, it is still among the weakest passports in the European Union.
According to the Passport Index data, Croats can travel without a visa to 143 countries. Croatian passport is stronger than passports of all the other nations in the region, which is not surprising given that the very top of the list is mainly occupied by EU member states. Still, compared to last year, Croatia fell by one position.
It is interesting that, according to the latest survey, Germany is joined at the very top of the rankings by Singapore, which used to be several positions behind. For example, at the beginning of this year, you could travel freely with a Singapore passport to 157 countries and with German passport to 158 countries; both states are now at 159. Interestingly, the American passport was the strongest in the world just two years ago, but now it is not even among the top ten.
The positions among top ten belong mainly to European countries, with the exception of Singapore and South Korea, which is in the fourth position. The third is Sweden, while from the fifth to the tenth position are Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, Spain and Norway.
Compared to Croatian passports, Slovenia is stronger, since its nationals can travel freely to 149 countries, while Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are in the lower part of the rankings, just like Russia.
The bottom of the rankings belongs to Afghanistan, whose nationals can travel visa-free to just 22 countries, with Pakistan, Iraq, Syria and Somalia being just marginally better.
The United Kingdom, which was among the top five countries for the past few years, fell to the eleventh position, followed by Japan and the United States. Of the Middle East countries, the best is Israel, followed closely behind by the United Arab Emirates.
When it comes to South America, the first place belongs to Brazil, followed by Argentina. Among the European countries, Kosovo is currently the weakest, with visa-free travel available just to 41 countries.
