Germany takes
the lead. Singapore becomes
second.
MONTREAL, Jan. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - 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
SOURCE Arton Capital