There’s a new global ranking of the world’s best passports & here’s where the US places

A new passport ranking is out, and a European country has topped the list. According to the Nomad Passport Index, Switzerland is this year’s highest ranked passport, so where does the USA land?

The Nomad Passport Index says it was “designed to educate aspiring global citizens about the true value of the world’s citizenships.”

It says that the number of countries a passport holder may visit does not tell the whole story, and that “The Nomad Passport Index speaks to those seeking personal freedom and financial prosperity in a changing world by more deeply analysing the true value of each passport.”

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Following Switzerland, Ireland comes in at second place, and Portugal in third.

This year, the United States was ranked 44th, where it was tied with Brazil.

“The passport of United States is currently ranked as 44T, with a total score of 99.00,” states the Index.

For the United States Travel score calculation, the report relied on data from the IATA, Henley Index, and news sources to rank travel access.

“Altogether, United States passport holders can enter a total of 172 destinations — either without a visa, through a visa on arrival, or via an eTA. Separate from these 172 destinations, there are 78 additional destinations which United States passport holders either need a physical visa to enter or an eVisa,” it says.

As for the US Perception score calculation, the report relied on the World Happiness Report, the Human Development Index, and “subjective factors from our networks’ experiences to determine how each country’s citizens are received and recognized.”

“We assigned the lowest score of 10 to those whose citizens are refused entry to a substantial number of countries and/or whose citizens encounter substantial hostility, scores of 20, 30, and 40 to countries whose citizens experience intermediate hostility, and 50 to countries ranked among the happiest in the world and whose citizens experience minimal hostility. Based on that data, we assigned United States a Perception score of 30, meaning that United States citizens experience intermediate hostility,” it reads.

Are you surprised by the USA’s passport ranking?