Japanese passport ranked 'most powerful' in world

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Japan has the "most powerful" passport in the world, according to Henley Passport Index on Tuesday.

Tokyo offers its citizens visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a record 189 destinations, it said in a statement.

"Following closely behind Japan are Singapore and Germany in joint second place, with 188 destinations accessible without a prior visa. Third place is shared by six countries: one Asian [South Korea] and the rest European [Finland, France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden]," it added.

Turkey is in the 49th place, allowing its passport holders visa-free travel to 111 destinations.

The Henley Passport Index, which is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), surveys 199 different passports against 227 different travel destinations, including countries, territories, and micro-states.