New Zealand passport becomes most desirable travel document in the world

The New Zealand passport has bested the rest of the world to become the most valuable travel document across the globe. Based on the new rankings published by the Passport Index, the Kiwi passport is in a shared top spot alongside Japan. New Zealand and Japan grant visa-free travel as well as visa on arrival to 118 countries. Australia trails in second place and is tied with the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea and 8 more nations.

The site's power ranking of 200 passports from around the world bears much similarity with the Henley Passport Index that has placed Japan on the forefront in its latest quarterly ranking.

Kiwi passport holders who revel in the ownership of the world's most coveted passport may not necessarily find it so useful at this time. Current numbers have shown quite a dramatic decline in mobility and travel as well as a collapse of global mobility. This situation leaves much to blame on the ongoing pandemic with countries closing borders and imposing restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

In just a few months, mobility during the COVID-19 crisis has completely wiped out an earlier steady increase of 4.55 percent on visa-travel. This has resulted in a dramatic fall of 65 percent on the World Openness Score (WOS) or the ability of travellers to gain access into other countries. New data on the Passport Index is strong evidence of the "staggering reality of global mobility during a pandemic."

Although overall mobility around the globe has eased, countries that are within an area of routine movement like countries in the EU have remained in good standing. These would include Finland, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Luxembourg. This could be attributed to their reciprocal access within all of the 26 European Union states.

The US passport on the other hand, seems to have notably fallen from grace. The once desirable American travel document which previously granted visa-free access to about 170 countries has significantly dropped to 21st in rankings with only 80 countries known to have not imposed travel restrictions on American tourists.

The calamitous response of the US to the pandemic has paved a slippery slide from its power rank and caused the extraordinary decline of the US passport.

In an unexpected turn, the United Arab Emirates has earned its place to become the quickest climbing passport over the last decade. This is mainly due to its heavy investment in presenting itself as a global travel hub with the UAE now gaining visa-free access to 110 countries. However, as of this time, the pandemic has bumped it to 95 countries.