The HPI is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom allowed by those countries’ ordinary passports for their citizens.

It started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index and was changed and renamed in January 2018.

The index annually ranks 199 passports of the world by the number of countries that their holders can travel to without visas.

Japan has been knocked off the top spot on the Index for the first time in five years and relegated to third place, according to the latest ranking, which is based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Singapore is now officially the most powerful passport in the world, with its citizens able to visit 192 destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free.

Japanese passport holders join Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden in third place with access to 189 destinations without a prior visa.

The UK appears to have finally turned the corner after a six-year decline, jumping up two places on the latest ranking to 4th place — a position it last held in 2017.

The US, on the other hand, continues its now decade-long slide down the index, plummeting a further two places to 8th spot with access to just 184 destinations visa-free.

Both the UK and the US jointly held 1st place on the index nearly 10 years ago in 2014, but have been on a downward trajectory ever since.

Australia is in joint sixth place with Hungary and Poland.

Afghanistan remains entrenched at the bottom of the Index, with a visa-free access score of just 27, followed by Iraq (score of 29), and Syria (score of 30) — the three weakest passports in the world.

The general trend over the history of the 18-year-old ranking has been towards greater travel freedom, with the average number of destinations travelers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023.

However, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than it has ever been, with top-ranked Singapore able to access 165 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan.

Dr Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners, says only eight countries worldwide have less visa-free access today than they did a decade ago, while others have been more successful in securing greater travel freedom for their citizens.

“The UAE has added an impressive 107 destinations to its visa-free score since 2013, resulting in a massive leap of 44 places in the ranking over the past 10 years from 56th to 12th position.

“Of the countries sitting in the Top 10, the US has seen the smallest increase in its score, securing just 12 additional destinations.

“Singapore, by comparison, has increased its score by 25, pushing it up five places over the past 10 years to number one.”