Passport power rank 2018: Germany holds top spot for a fifth year running

The 2018 Henley Passport Index confirmed what four earlier editions had already shown: no passport opened more doors than Germany's. But the real story of the year sat just beneath the headline — Singapore's leap into outright second place, a UK passport that defied its own country's political mood, and a widening spread of visa-free travel even as a handful of countries slipped backwards.

Germany leads, Singapore closes the gap

Compiled from International Air Transport Association (IATA) travel-document data and Henley & Partners' own research, the index scored 199 passports against 219 destination territories, for a maximum attainable 218 points (a traveller earns nothing for entering their own country). Germany held first place for a fifth consecutive year, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 177 destinations. Singapore followed in second on 176 — its first appearance alone at that rank, having shared fourth place only a year earlier.

Eight passports tied for third on 175: Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A further six shared fourth on 174 — Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland — while South Korea and the United States tied for fifth on 173, the US having gained a single point from 172 the year before.

Only four points separated first place from fifth in 2018 — the tightest cluster the top of the index had shown in years.

The bottom four, unchanged again

At the opposite end of the table, four passports remained locked below 30 destinations for the second year running: Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Pakistan edged up one place to 196th; Syria slipped to 197th on 28 destinations, one fewer than in 2017; Iraq held 198th on 27, unchanged; and Afghanistan again finished last, in 199th, on 24 — the same score it carried the year before. The practical gap between the two ends of the table was stark: 153 points separated Germany's 177 from Afghanistan's 24, inside a single 199-passport ranking.

The year's biggest movers

Henley's own tally of the year's movement showed the index growing more open overall: 143 of the 199 passports improved their position, 41 held steady, and seven lost ground — Syria and Qatar among them. The steepest climbs belonged to two countries that completed visa-liberalisation deals with the European Union during 2017. Georgia gained 30 visa-free destinations and jumped 15 places to 53rd; Ukraine gained 32, rising 14 places to 44th with access to 114 destinations. China also climbed, up ten places to 75th, part of a broader improvement Henley noted for several large economies that year.

Brexit and the UK's surprising rise

The United Kingdom's own result cut against the mood in which the index was published. Coming a year and a half after the Brexit referendum, some commentary at the time expected the UK's travel freedom to start eroding well before any formal departure from the EU. Instead, the UK passport moved from a share of fourth place on 173 destinations in 2017 to a share of third on 175 in 2018. Brexit remained more than a year from taking effect, and by January 2018 no country had yet altered its visa policy toward UK travellers because of it.

How the index is built

• Scores are compiled from International Air Transport Association (IATA) travel-document data, enhanced by Henley & Partners' in-house research.
• Visa-on-arrival and straightforward e-visas — needing only a fee, a return ticket or a hotel booking — count the same as full visa-free entry; e-visas requiring an invitation letter or consular pre-approval do not.
• The exercise covers 199 passports against 219 destination territories, so the maximum attainable score is 218.
• The index was renamed the Henley Passport Index at the start of 2018, having previously been published as the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index.

What a passport score does and doesn't tell you

• It measures access on a fixed date — a single policy change can move a country several places within a quarter.
• Visa-on-arrival and simple e-visas count the same as full visa-free entry, so two passports level on points can still travel somewhat differently in practice.
• It scores the document, not the traveller: actual entry still depends on nationality, travel history and the purpose of the trip.
• A high score reflects reciprocal diplomacy as much as anything else — small, well-connected states such as Singapore can out-rank far larger economies.

Reading the 2018 snapshot today

These figures describe visa rules current in January 2018 and have moved a long way since. Henley's rankings later tilted further toward Asia — Singapore and Japan each went on to hold the outright top spot in subsequent years — while Germany's position gradually eased. The 2018 edition is best read as a snapshot of one moment inside a ranking that is retabulated, and can reorder itself, several times a year.

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