MONTREAL, January 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Germany Takes the
Lead. Singapore Becomes Second
Passport Index, the real-time global ranking of the world's
passports has announced a new update to its celebrated web
service.
Germany takes the lead with a
visa-free score of 157. Singapore
overtakes South Korea and becomes
the highest ranked Asian passport, with a visa free score of 156,
coming second. South Korea fell to
6th place (152), while Japan,
rose to 4th place, tied with European countries like
Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, and others whose visa-free score is
154. Visa-free score represents the number of countries a passport
holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival.
In addition to the popular mosaic of passports, visitors
of PassportIndex.org can now see the overall changes to
the ranking of countries in 2016. Marshall Islands is on top of the winners'
list by adding 35 countries to its visa-free score. Palau, Micronesia, follow with 34 additional
countries, while Solomon Islands
and Tuvalu added 33. Peru is the biggest winner in South America with additional 31
countries.
The newly added World Openness Score (WOS) tracks the
progression of freedom of mobility across the globe. The world
openness score in 2016 was 17,925. In the few days of 2017, the
score has already increased to 17,948. This trend shows opening of
borders but will it continue? With the recent backlash on
globalisation, the World Openness Score may be in danger of
decline.
Comparing passports has never been easier with the
streamlined comparison tables and powerful filters which allow you
to focus on the countries you need.
The newly added Improve function on the other hand
allows you to quickly see the potential of combining two passports
together. Fans can add one or more passports to their current
travel document with the goal to improve their Global Mobility
Score (GMS). For example, a Lebanese citizen has a GMS of 38.
However, by adding a passport of Saint
Lucia, their Global Mobility Score increases drastically to
123, which would represent the possibility of visa-free travel to
over 61% of the countries we examine. For many people, this is
priceless.
According to John Hanafin, CEO of
Arton Capital, "The desire to improve one's opportunity and
security for their family transcends borders. As such, having a
second citizenship has never been more relevant."
In recent years, citizenship by investment has become a
US$2B industry, with over 20,000
investors seeking a second residency or citizenship around the
globe very year.
New Top 10 Passport Power Ranking:
- 157 - Germany
- 156 - Singapore, Sweden
- 155 - Denmark, Finland, France, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, UK, USA
- 154 - Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Portugal, Japan
- 153 - Malaysia, Ireland, Canada, New
Zealand
- 152 - Greece, South Korea, Australia
- 151 - Czech Republic,
Iceland
- 150 - Hungary
- 149 - Malta, Poland
- 148 - Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia
New Top 10 Individual Passport Power Ranking:
- Germany
- Singapore
- Sweden
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Norway
- United Kingdom
Media Enquiries:
John Hanafin
CEO, Arton Capital - Empowering
Global Citizenship®
media@artoncapital.com
T (Montreal)
+1-514-935-6665
T (Dubai) +971-4-456-9220