South Korea holds No. 2 spot in global passport ranking as US slips to 10th

South Korea has retained its second-place ranking in the Henley Passport Index, which measures the travel freedom afforded by passports worldwide, for the second consecutive year.

According to the Henley Passport Index 20th-anniversary report released Tuesday by global citizenship and residency advisory firm Henley & Partners, South Korean passport holders can enter 188 countries without a visa or with a visa on arrival, placing the country second behind Singapore, whose passport grants access to 192 destinations. Japan and the UAE also share second place with South Korea.

Compared with when the index was first published in 2006, the number of countries South Korean passport holders can enter visa-free has grown by 73. Japan added 60 destinations over the same period, while the UAE added 153.

The United States ranked 10th with access to 180 countries, a steep drop from its first-place standing in 2006. When shared rankings are factored in, 36 countries rank above the US, putting it at an effective 37th place, the report said.

Among the factors cited for the US decline was its inability to enter China without a visa, unlike most other major Western nations.

CNN said the index, which measures travel freedom by the number of destinations accessible without a visa or with a visa on arrival, shows that "the US passport is no longer one of the most powerful in the world."

Afghanistan ranks last on the index, with passport holders able to access only 22 countries. North Korea sits near the bottom at 97th, with access to 35 destinations, alongside Nepal, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq and Syria.

When compared with the Global Peace Index — compiled by the Institute for Economics & Peace, which has also tracked interstate conflict and related factors for 20 years — the two indexes show a positive correlation.

However, the US, which is at war with Iran, ranks 134th on the Global Peace Index yet still places 10th on the passport index. Israel similarly ranks 149th for peace but 18th for passport strength.

"At a moment when tensions with Iran and instability across the Middle East are again making headlines, their high mobility shows that passport power is not determined by peace levels alone," the report said.