News Japan reclaims no.1 position among top passports for travel freedom

Japan has been named one of six countries with the world's most powerful passport for 2024, sharing the No. 1 spot with Singapore, Germany, France, Italy and Spain in a new ranking. Passports from these six countries grant visa-free access to 194 of the world's 227 countries and regions, according to the latest Henley Passport Index, released Wednesday. South Korea, Finland and Sweden together ranked second, with visa-free access to 193 destinations. U.K.-based consultancy Henley & Partners compiles the index twice a year based on data from the International Air Transport Association.

Singapore stood alone in first place in the last ranking, released in July 2023. Japan was dislodged from the top spot for the first time in years, coming in third along with South Korea and others. Overall, freedom to travel has increased over the years. The average number of destinations accessible without a visa roughly doubled to 111 in the latest ranking from 58 in 2006, when Henley & Partners launched the index.

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Visa-free travel is not a very important metric, IMO.

But boy-oh-boy, if korea was ever to displace japan as number 1, you'd never hear the end of it.

Our most do not have a passport.