Advertisement

Italy has 'world's third most powerful passport'

The Local Italy
The Local Italy - [email protected]
Italy has 'world's third most powerful passport'
A plane takes off from Rome's Fiumicino airport. File photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

Italy has the third most powerful passport in the world, according to a new index which ranks the level of visa-free access passports provide to their holders.

Advertisement

Global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners produces the Henley Passport Index each year using data from the International Air Transport Association.

The latest edition ranked Italy's passport as the third best in the world as it provides visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 187 countries, more than that of international heavyweights like the UK, US and China.

Italy shared third place with Denmark, Finland, France, Spain, Sweden and South Korea. Singapore and Germany were second (providing access to 188 countries), while Japan was first (189).

READ ALSO: How to become Italian, or at least stay in Italy forever

Schengen Area countries have traditionally topped the index due to providing open access to large parts of Europe, Henley & Partners noted, but Asian countries are catching up thanks to strengthened international trade and diplomatic relations.

One European country that could see its position in the ranking weaken in the coming years is the UK, with Brexit potentially making trips abroad more complicated.

The Henley index surveys 199 different passports and the access they provide to 227 different destinations. 

READ ALSO: How can an American get Italian citizenship?

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also