Onward Passport Power Report · Q3 2026 · data 2026-07-06

The state of passport power, Q3 2026

First edition of Onward's quarterly report on global travel freedom, generated from our weekly-refreshed matrix of 199 passports × 198 destinations. The headline: the world's strongest passport opens 168 doors without pre-arranged paperwork; the weakest opens 26 — a mobility gap of 142 destinations.

The numbers

#1: 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates (168 destinations without a prior visa) · Median passport: 87 destinations · Bottom: 🇦🇫 Afghanistan (26) · Mobility gap: 142.

Top 10 passports

1. 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates 168 2. 🇰🇷 South Korea 166 3. 🇪🇸 Spain 166 4. 🇩🇰 Denmark 165 5. 🇫🇮 Finland 165 6. 🇫🇷 France 165 7. 🇩🇪 Germany 165 8. 🇮🇹 Italy 165 9. 🇳🇴 Norway 165 10. 🇸🇬 Singapore 165

Bottom 10

🇸🇩 Sudan 40 🇳🇵 Nepal 39 🇧🇩 Bangladesh 36 🇵🇸 Palestine 36 🇾🇪 Yemen 35 🇸🇴 Somalia 33 🇵🇰 Pakistan 32 🇮🇶 Iraq 31 🇸🇾 Syria 28 🇦🇫 Afghanistan 26

What to watch this quarter

Europe's ETIAS is expected to launch in Q4 2026 — 59 visa-exempt nationalities will need a €20 online authorisation (who's affected). The biometric EES is already replacing passport stamps at Schengen borders. Weekly movements land in the changes feed (RSS).

Method & reuse

Full method on the methodology page. Journalists: cite "Onward (onwardpassport.com), data 2026-07-06" — charts, the embeddable widget and interview access are in the press kit.