Canada remains powerful in passport ranking as U.S. drops to 'historic low'
Canada remains ahead of the U.S. in the latest global passport ranking, as the U.S. passport drops to a “historic low.”
Canada’s passport remains one of the most powerful in the world, according to the latest monthly update from the Henley Passport Index, which uses exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index evaluates 199 passports against 227 different travel destinations. Several factors are taken into account, but the main determination of a passport’s rank is based on the number of countries that a passport holder can travel to visa-free.
In the latest October rankings, Canada remains in the top 10 in the ninth spot, with visa-free access to 183 countries. Canada slipped one spot since July this year, when it ranked at number eight with visa-free access to 184 countries.
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The loss in passport power is more pronounced for the U.S. passport, which slipped from the 10th spot (with visa-free travel to 182 countries) back in July down to the 12th spot this month.
According to Henley & Partners, this marks a “historic low” for the U.S.
“For the first time since the Henley Passport Index was created 20 years ago, the United States is no longer ranked amongst the world’s top 10 most powerful passports,” reads the report. “Once unrivalled at number one in 2014, the American passport has now slumped to 12th place, tied with Malaysia, with visa-free access to only 180 of 227 destinations worldwide.”
Although Canada is still among the top 10 most powerful passports in the world, it has been slipping — in 2014, historical rankings placed it in the second spot.
The top three spots are now held by countries in Southeast Asia: Singapore is world’s number one most powerful passport (193 countries), followed by South Korea at number two (190 countries), and Japan at number three (189 countries).
One expert attributes the U.S. passport’s sharp drop from the number one spot to the 12th place in just a decade to political factors.
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“Even before a second Trump presidency, U.S. policy had turned inward,” explained Annie Pforzheimer, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “That isolationist mindset is now being reflected in America’s loss of passport power.”
The U.S. also ranks low at number 77 in the Henley Openness Index, which compares a countries’ citizens’ travel freedom to its openness to foreigners.
Although Americans can travel to 180 countries without a visa, only citizens of 46 countries can enter the U.S. visa-free. By comparison, Canada ranks 76th, allowing citizens from 53 countries to enter without a visa.
Canadians require a visa or e-visa if they want to travel to the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iran, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Muritania, Myanmar, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Yemen.