Antigua and Barbuda’s passport slips one place in global ranking

Antigua and Barbuda’s passport has fallen one spot in the 2019 Henley & Partners Passport Index/Global Ranking produced annually, even as the number of countries to which the passport has visa-free access remains the same as it was last year.
In the 2019 report posted by Henley & Partners this week, the country’s passport ranks at 28, while someone with the passport can access 150 countries out of 227 possible travel destinations that do not require a visa.
The Henley Passport Index is the original ranking of all the world’s passports, according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.
According to henleypassportindex.com, “The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most
accurate database of travel information, and it is
enhanced by extensive, ongoing research by the Henley & Partners Research Department.”
It should be noted that according to the site, the Henley Passport Index is updated in real-time, as and when visa-policy changes come into effect.
The information is considered a major reference tool for global citizens and the standard reference for governments in this field.
Last year Antigua and Barbuda’s passport ranked 27, while in 2017 and 2016 it stood at 30 – with visa free access to 136 and 134 countries in those respective years. In 2015, the passport ranked 28, while it had visa free access to 133 countries.
In June 2017 Antigua and Barbuda lost visa-free access to Canada, which was one of the selling points for the twin island nation’s Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP).
Barbados continues to rank highest in the Caribbean region with the 24th most powerful passport, followed by The Bahamas which stands at number 26.
St. Kitts & Nevis, which ranked 26 last year, dropped one spot; but the number of countries to which the passport affords visa free access did not change from last year’s 151.
An observation of significance is that the United Kingdom passport continues to slip further away from its first place ranking in 2015 to sixth place this year.
The firm said it was unlikely that the UK would reclaim first place ‘any time soon’, as big questions loom over the ultimate impact of Brexit.
Sitting atop the ranking for the second consecutive year is the Japan passport. The document ranked number five in 2017 and 2016, and number three in 2015.
In the world ranking, Afghanistan and Iran took the last spot at 104, as their passports can only access 30 countries without a visa.