The power of an Icelandic passport

An Icelandic passport will get you into 135 countries without need of an advance visa, according to the Passport Index, created by financial advisory firm Arton Capital. Just 33 countries in the world have more ‘powerful’ passports than Iceland.

UK and US on top

Of the 197 countries analysed, the United States and the United Kingdom come out of top. Holders of an American or British passport are able to travel to 147 other countries without an advance visa. Next in the ranking come France, South Korea and Germany, all with 145 visa-free countries.

Iceland riding high

Holders of an Icelandic vegabréf (‘passport’) require no advance visa for 135 countries of the world, placing it in joint twelfth position with Slovenia. Our bright-blue travel document can therefore be considered among the most ‘powerful’ in the world.

Europe and EU dominate

21 of the 29 countries sharing the top ten places are advanced European economies. The other eight are: Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States. A European Union (EU) passport is also a clear advantage when it comes to worldwide visa-free travel. Visa-free destinations for the 28-country bloc range from 147 (with a British passport) to 124 (with a Croatian passport). The EU average is 138.6 visa-free countries, only slightly higher than Iceland’s figure.

The other end of the table

The lowest rank on the Index (80/80) is represented by the Solomon Islands, Myanmar, South Sudan, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the Palestinian Territories. Holders of these passports will need some sort of advance visa for travel to all but just 28 other countries.

The full Passport Index, including a fascinating database of worldwide passport images sorted by colour, can be found here.