The Barbadian passport continues to be the most powerful in the region.
The latest edition of the Henley Passport Index, ranked the Barbadian passport as the 24th most powerful in the world with its visa-free access to 163 destinations.
The top 10 most powerful Caribbean passports in 2023 are:
- Barbados: ranking at #24 with visa-free access to 163 destinations
- St Kitts and Nevis: ranking at #26 with visa-free access to 157 destinations
- Bahamas: ranking at #27 with visa-free access to 155 destinations
- St Vincent and the Grenadines: ranking at #30 with visa-free access to 152 destinations
- Antigua and Barbuda tied with Trinidad and Tobago: ranking at #31 with visa-free access to 151 destinations
- St Lucia: ranking at #33 with visa-free access to 147 destinations
- Grenada: ranking at #34 with visa-free access to 146 destinations
- Dominica: ranking at #35 with visa-free access to 145 destinations
- Belize: ranking at #54 with visa-free access to 103 destinations
- Guyana: ranking at #62 with visa-free access to 88 destinations
The country with the least powerful passport in the Caribbean is Haiti, ranking 94th globally, with visa-free access to 49 destinations.
(File photo)
In its report, Henley & Partners said its index is the “original and most authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.”
The index includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.
“The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information and is enhanced by the Henley & Partners Research Department,” the report said.
Now, how are the scores determined?
Each passport is scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free.
For each travel destination, if no visa is required, then a score of one is allowed for that passport. This also applies if passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) upon entry.
When a visa is required, or where a passport holder must apply for a government-approved electronic visa (e-visa) before departure, a score of zero is assigned.
The same applies if they need pre-departure approval for a visa on arrival.
And, in case you were wondering, the country with the most powerful passport in the world continues to be Japan.
Japan has held on to this spot for the past six years with visa-free access to 193 destinations compared to Afghanistan, which ranked 109th with only 27 visa-free access destinations.
The 10 most powerful passports in the world, according to the Henley Passport Index, are:
- Japan – visa-free access to 193 destinations
- Singapore and South Korea – visa-free access to 192 destinations
- Germany and Spain – visa-free access to 190 destinations
- Finland, Italy and Luxembourg – visa-free access to 189 destinations
- Austria, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden – visa-free access to 188 destinations
- France, Ireland, Portugal, and United Kingdom – visa-free access to 187 destinations
- Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States, and Czech Republic – visa-free access to 186 destinations
- Australia, Canada, Greece and Malta – visa-free access to 185 destinations
- Hungary and Poland – visa-free access to 184 destinations
- Lithuania and Slovakia – visa-free access to 183 destinations
The least powerful passports to hold in 2023, according to the Henley Passport Index, are:
- North Korea – visa-free access to 40 destinations
- Nepal and Palestinian territory – visa-free access to 38 destinations
- Somalia – visa-free access to 35 destinations
- Yemen – visa-free access to 34 destinations
- Pakistan – visa-free access to 32 destinations
- Syria – visa-free access to 30 destinations
- Iraq – visa-free access to 29 destinations
- Afghanistan – visa-free access to 27 destinations