The Italian passport is the strongest in the world. Together with that of 5 other countries (France, Germany, Spain, Singapore and Japan) it allows access to the record figure of 194 states out of 227 across the globe.

Our document has achieved top spot in the latest Henley Passport Index, which ranks passports by the number of places holders can enter without a visa. The index is updated as information for each state changes. And in the October rankings, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Japan have joined Singapore in first place.

Followed by Finland, Sweden and South Korea, then Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands, then Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Among the European countries lowest on the list, Ukraine is 32nd and then some Balkan countries, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania.

Overall, the average number of destinations travelers can access without a visa has nearly doubled, from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024, according to Henley.

But the gap with the countries at the bottom of the ranking is getting wider and wider. The weakest passport in the world is the Afghan one, which gives visa-free access to just 28 countries. Among the latter also Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Nepal, North Korea, Bangladesh and the Palestinian Territories.

(Unioneonline/L)