Japan begins 2023 with the world’s strongest passport, permitting visa-free entry to 193 international locations, in line with the most recent Henley Passport Index, which the nation tops for the fifth consecutive yr.
That does not imply the passport is broadly used, whilst journey rebounds from Covid. Solely 24 million legitimate Japanese passports had been in circulation on the finish of 2021, in line with the most recent accessible figures from the nation’s Ministry of International Affairs. That is down greater than 3 million from the yr earlier than and signifies that lower than 20% of the inhabitants held the journey doc.
Singapore and South Korea retained their locations in joint second on the rating, adopted by Germany and Spain, after which a slew of different European nations.
The US was among the many high 22, with visa-free entry to 186 locations, matching the likes of Switzerland, New Zealand and Norway. China’s permits entry to 80, the identical as Bolivia’s. Russia’s is healthier, offering hassle-free entry to 118 locations, whereas Afghanistan’s remained the weakest, with entry to simply 27.
The rating, revealed by London-based immigration consultancy Henley & Companions, makes use of information from the Worldwide Air Transport Affiliation to rank 199 passports’ entry to 227 journey locations. The methodology differs from different passport indexes like one revealed by monetary advisory Arton Capital, which put the United Arab Emirates in pole place.
Individually, a Morning Seek the advice of ballot performed in July confirmed that 35% of grownup respondents in Japan indicated they did not plan to ever journey for leisure once more, a far larger proportion than the opposite 13 nations surveyed. South Korea was the subsequent, with 15% saying the identical.
Almost 2 million individuals traveled abroad from Japan within the first 10 months of final yr, in line with the Japan Nationwide Tourism Group, a good distance off the 20 million that did so in all of 2019, earlier than the pandemic.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
“Will not Put On Sweater Until…”: Rahul Gandhi On Sporting T-Shirt In Chilly