UAE 7 July 2021: With many countries now re-opening their borders following a largely cautious easing of Covid restrictions through H1 2021, The Passport Index yesterday announced the Q3 2021 passport power rankings, with the US one of the biggest gainers and Germany and New Zealand topping the list.
Overall, the increase in global mobility was up by 6.5 per cent, at the time of writing.
A previous, pre-Covid holder of the number one passport ranking, the UAE moves up from 14, at the end of 2020, into joint third place – the highest-ranking country of any Arab and Mena nation and the only one in the global top 10.
The Passport Index’s Mobility Score (MS) is based on adding two key figures – the number of countries for which a passport has visa-free entry (VF) and the number it can obtain a visa on arrival (VOA). These totals determine the passport rank, with New Zealand (92-VF/44-VOA) ranked top, going into Q3, with a score of 136. At the time of writing, the UAE passport currently has access to 86 countries, visa free, and 48 countries with visas obtainable on arrival, for a MS score of 134.
Over H1 2021, the top performing passports on the index often show a correlation between a commitment by governments to openness or swift diplomacy between nations, as well as those
who are better managing the global Covid crisis, within their borders. These include the UAE (+11), Israel (+13), and the US (+16).
“It is safe to say that the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic is behind us, as we see more and more countries safely opening up their borders,” says Armand Arton, Founder and President of Arton Capital, and the creator of The Passport Index. “Innovations are often born in times of crisis and we are starting to see this happening in the travel industry as well with the future of travel looking a lot different than before the pandemic.”
Regional Overview
In the GCC, only the UAE saw a significant uptick in H1 2021, gaining eight places to fifth position. Other GCC nations remain in roughly similar positions in the rankings over this period:
- Bahrain (-5/45)
- Kuwait (-7/42)
- Oman (-4/49)
- Qatar (-6/40), and
- Saudi Arabia (-5/50)
One Middle East country saw a more significant rise in the rankings than others, in H1 2021, with the determining factors unusually being more political than health-related; and that was Israel. With many Arab countries following suit, in the aftermath of the UAE-Israel Abrahamic Accords Peace Agreement, Israeli citizens and investors have now gained access to many other Arab countries, over this period. Partly as a consequence of this historic agreement, the Israeli passport jumped 13 places to a global ranking of 13th .
Asia
As we approach the opening of the summer Olympics, in Japan, reports suggest that a while a low number of Japanese nationals have received the Covid vaccine, Japan’s passport still remain one of the world’s strongest ranked travel documents – in third place (at time of writing) – and up four places from 6 th , at the beginning of H1 2021, with a mobility score (MS) of 135. China, the world’s second largest economy, saw a far more modest gain over the first half of the year, moving up two places to 50, with the Kingdom of Brunei seeing the Asian region’s biggest positive upswing, with an eight-place gain, at 19.
Top 10
- 1st : New Zealand (+2) Total MS: 136
- Joint 2nd : Germany (-1), Spain (=2), Australia (+5). Total MS: 135
- Joint 3rd : Finland (-1), Austria (+1), Italy (+1), Switzerland (+1), Rep. of Ireland (+1), Japan (+3), South Korea (+2), USA (+16), UAE (+11). Total MS: 134
- Joint 4th : Sweden (-2), Netherlands (=4), Denmark (-1), Belgium (+1), France (=4), Portugal (=4), Luxembourg (=4), Czech Republic (+2), Hungary (+1). Total MS: 133
- Joint 5th : Malta (+2), Slovenia (+1), Greece (-1), Poland (=5), Slovakia (+2), UK (-1). Total MS: 132
- Joint 6 th : Singapore (+7), Norway (-3), Lithuania (-1). Total MS: 131
- Joint 7 th : Estonia (-1), Latvia (-1). Total MS: 130
- Joint 8 th . Iceland (-2), Canada (+10). Total MS: 129
- Joint 9 th : Cyprus (-1), Croatia (=9), Liechtenstein (-1), Romania (=9). Total MS 128
- 10th : Bulgaria (=10). Total MS: 127
10 weakest passports
* All rankings and MS scores are correct as of the time of writing (6 th July 2021)
- Joint 74th : Bangladesh (-3), South Sudan (-4), Libya (-3), Dem. Rep. Congo (-5), Sudan (-4), North Korea (-3) Total MS: 42
- Joint 75th : Ethiopia (-3), Nepal (-3), Sri Lanka (-5), Rep. of Congo (-6). Total MS: 41
- 76th : Eritrea (-3). Total MS: 39
- 77 th : Palestinian Territories (-3), Myanmar (-4). Total MS: 38
- 78th : Iran (-4). Total MS: 36
- Joint 79th : Yemen (-4), Pakistan (-5). Total MS: 35
- 80th : Somalia (-4). Total MS: 34
- 81 st : Syria (-5). Total MS: 32
- 82 nd : Iraq (-5). Total MS: 31
- 83 rd : Afghanistan (-6). Total MS: 30
