The residents of the ‘Lion City’ of Singapore have a reason to rejoice as their passports are now the strongest in the world as per Arton Capital’s Global Passport Index. With Paraguay removing restrictions imposed on the Singapore passport holders earlier, the Singapore passport has soared to the number one position, pushing the German passport it was earlier sharing the first spot with to the number two position. With this new development, the people of Singapore can now travel to 159 countries without a visa or by getting a visa on arrival. Sweden and South Korea are tied on the third position whereas the UK shares the fourth spot with Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, Spain, Norway, and Japan. The citizens of Britain can travel to 156 countries in the world visa-free or by getting a visa on arrival. It is interesting to note that US passport fell from its position at number four to number six, an outcome directly attributed to the country’s anti-immigration agenda in the recent times.
Historically and traditionally, the Western countries have always stayed at the top on the passport index and it is the first time that an Asian country has reined supreme in the world on this parameter. Singapore passport’s new status is being seen as a testament of country’s improved diplomatic relations and foreign policy around the world.
While Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria and Somalia have the world’s weakest passports, the other countries from Asia that remain in the top ten are Japan and Malaysia.
