Passport holders can visit 179 countries around the world…

In the latest announcement by Henley Passport Index, the UAE passport has retained its powerful status now taking up the 12th spot with a score of 179.

It is the highest rank that the country has achieved since the launch of the ranking system back in 2006. It sat at the 15th spot last year and currently, UAE shares the position with Cyprus.

What is the Henley Passport Index?

The Henley Passport Index is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom enjoyed. The index is based on data from a trusted and accurate travel information database obtained from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Back in 2013, a decade ago, the UAE held the 56th position in the rankings with a score of just 72. In 2022, it ranked 15th on the list, sharing the spot with Chile, bouncing ahead from the 21st rank in 2018  – proof that it is getting stronger as the years pass by.

The UAE is also the only Arab nation to rank in the top 20.

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Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept stated, “The UAE has added an impressive 107 destinations to its visa-free score since 2013, resulting in a massive leap of 44 places in the ranking over the past 10 years from 56th to 12th position.”

Singapore takes the top position as the most powerful passport in the world with its citizens able to visit 192 destinations out of the 227 countries in the world visa-free.

The top 15 rankings on the Henley Passport Index can be found below:

1. Singapore
2. Germany, Italy, Spain
3. Austria, Finland, France, Japan, Luxembourg, South Korea, Sweden
4. Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom
5.  Belgium, Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland
6. Australia, Hungary, Poland
7. Canada, Greece
8. Lithuania, United States
9. Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia
10. Estonia, Iceland
11. Lichtenstein, Malaysia
12. The UAE, Cyprus

You can view the complete report here.

Images: Getty Images