New October data shows slow but steady growth.
It comes as no surprise that Germany has been amongst the top 5 most powerful passports ranking for the last decade.
But what makes a passport truly powerful is showing consistency amid volatile times.
According to the Passport Index, Covid-19 pandemic shrank the World Openness Score by 65%. This resulted in 56% drop in tourist arrivals globally, as stated by the World Economic Forum.
Countries like USA, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and others who enjoyed visa-free access to Europe, suffered the most, having lost over 50% of their power and representing a drop of more than 80 points in their Mobility Scores.
Since then, WOS has recovered 20%, while the UAE—which was ranked the world’s most powerful in 2019 — bounced 22% to a current mobility score of 110. With the recent historic visa wavier agreement with Israel, UAE is slowly but surely heading towards the top again.
Pandemic shows us that in crisis, European passports remain the most powerful ones. Germany, along with Luxemburg, Spain, South Korea and New Zealand and are now ranked at number one in Passport Index.
Germany’s excellent response and handling of COVID-19 crisis has contributed to its favorable passport ranking as more countries around the world trust German travelers even in times of crisis. Higher ranking can be attributed as a direct reward to Germany’s positive foreign policy and exemplary internal response to the global crisis.