Aussie passport climbs global rankings

Recent updates to the Henley Passport Index has the Australian passport ranked at 6 in the world up from 8 last year.

It means Australians can travel to 186 destinations without a visa.

But only 45 nationalities are allowed to pass through our borders visa-free.

Singapore is now the most powerful passport in the world, with its citizens able to visit 192 travel destinations around the world without a visa.

Japan has been knocked off the top spot for the first time in five years and bumped into 3rd place.

Germany, Italy, and Spain all move up into 2nd place with visa-free access to 190 destinations.

The UK appears to be recovering after a six-year decline, moving up two places on the latest ranking to 4th place while the United States has been plummeting in the rankings for several years and now sits at number 8 .

Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria remain the three weakest passports in the world.

The report noted a general trend over the 18 years of rankings with greater travel freedom, with the average number of destinations travelers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from between 2006 and 2023.

Launched in September 2022, the 'R Series' passport includes advanced security features to prevent counterfeiting and identity theft.

Designed and printed in Australia, it is made from tough, high-security, layered plastic. It also incorporates art from Indigenous Australians depicting iconic landscapes throughout.

Under ultraviolet light, the sky in each image becomes a unique nightscape, and a local species of native fauna appears.

The Henley Passport Index is based on how many places people with certain passports can access without a visa.

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It compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations.

The scores are based on data from the International Air Transport Association.