Today's Edition
ANUPAM VARMA (ABU DHABI)
The UAE passport ranked 11th on the Henley Passport Index 2024, gaining four spots from last year. The country’s visa-free score has risen to 183 from 178 last year, the report showed.
Overall, the UAE has remained the biggest climber on the Index over the past decade, adding as many as 106 destinations to its visa-free score since 2014, resulting in a massive leap of 44 places in the country’s ranking from 55th to 11th place.
Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners, said that although the general trend over the history of the 19-year-old ranking has been towards greater travel freedom, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than ever.
“The average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024. However, as we enter the new year, the top-ranked countries are now able to travel to a staggering 166 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom of the ranking with access to just 28 countries without a visa,” he said.
The rankings are based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and include 199 passports as well as 227 travel destinations.
Top rankings
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain stood joint first on the 2024 list, with a visa-free score of 194.
South Korea, Finland and Sweden stood 2nd with visa-free travel to 193 destinations, while four EU nations — Austria, Denmark, Ireland, and Netherlands — shared third place with access to 192.
The remaining top 10 spots are largely dominated by European countries, with the UK climbing up two ranks to 4th place with visa-free access to 191 destinations compared to 188 a year ago.
Australia and New Zealand passport holders saw an improvement in their ranking to sit in 6th place with 189 visa-free destinations, while the US retained its 7th place with access to 188 destinations without requiring a visa in advance. It has been a decade since the UK and the US jointly held 1st place on the index in 2014.
Biggest gainers
Along with the UAE, Ukraine and China are also among the top countries with the most improved rankings over the past 10 years (a net total gain of 21 places each), and both have climbed a further two ranks in the past year. Ukraine is now in 32nd place with 148 visa-free destinations and China is 62nd on the list with access to 85 destinations without a prior visa (compared to just 44 in 2014).
