In the context of passports, the terms "power" or "lucky" are measured through how many countries it can visit or be granted access to.Since a number of political and economic matters arise annually, the restrictions in each country changes. May it be giving access to more countries or heightening the security and eliminating the entry of other nationalities.
The recent 2016 Visa Index accomplished by Henley and Partners, a citizenship and planning firm, listed the countries that one can visit without applying for a visa. Here are the "luckiest" and "unluckiest" passports holders in the world.
The German passport ranks #1 as the world's most powerful and luckiest passport. It can grant the bearer access to 177 out of 285 countries. The best part about this is that no Visa is required whatsoever.
With UK being ranked as #1 last year, 2015, Germany surged forward and claimed its place. With this, mobility for burgundy passport holders is easier and he/she is hassle-free.
The countries that follow are Sweden with 176; Finland, France, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom at a tie with 175; Belguim, Denmark, the Netherlands and United States of America at tie with 174, and Austria, Japan and Singapore at tie with 173 countries.
According to Arton Capital, for the worst or wretched passport holders, the top 3 are: Iraq with 30, Pakistan with 27, and Afghanistan with 25. This is due to the terrorism and dangerous threats that may be imposed on the different countries and states.
Several countries made huge improvements, however. These include Tonga with sixteen places, Palau with twenty, Colombia with 25, and Timor-Leste garnering the highest with 33 ranks.
"Generally, there was significant movement across the board with only 21 of the 199 countries listed remaining in the same rank," Henley & Partners said. "No country, however, dropped more than three positions, indicating that overall, visa-free access is improving around the world."
