Abu Dhabi: The UAE holds the highest ranking passport among GCC countries, and takes 47th place globally with access to 72 countries visa free, according to an international index on the most powerful passports.
Arton Capital, the global financial advisory firm specialising in investor programmes for residency and citizenship, launched the ‘Passport Index’, the world’s first online interactive tool to collect, display and rank the passports of the world.
Visitors to the website can discover the world’s passports on a map, by country name, by Passport Power Rank and even by the colour of their cover.
The ranking is based on points accumulated for each country to which the passport holder can travel visa-free. The country list is based on the 193 UN member countries and six territories, giving a total of 199.
In the GCC, Qatar follows the UAE in 52nd place, whilst Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are both ranked at 57th in the list by passport power.
The USA and UK are jointly ranked 1st in the world, while in tie for second place are France, Germany and South Korea.
At the bottom of the list are the passports of the Solomon Islands, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Sao Tome and Principe.
