The Colombian passport is not among the most powerful in the world, but it is among those that have improved the most in the last decade, according to the annual report prepared by the consulting company Henley & Partners. The ranking places the country outside the top 10 in Latin America and within the top 50 worldwide.
The immigration document, according to the analysis carried out by the company, It allows Colombians to access 135 countries without the need for a visa, which places it in position number 40.
In the last year, Colombia lost one place in the general ranking, although this is largely due to the fact that other passports have risen in the classification with more significant jumpswhich has caused the country to drop one place but remain more or less at the same level.
In the region, Chile (which has access to 177 countries without having a visa); Argentina (174) and Brazil (173) have the strongest passports. The top five is completed by Mexico (161) and Uruguay (156).
Although Colombia does not rank among the best, Henley & Partners highlights its performance in the last decade. The country is the second that has risen the most in the index among the 199 passports in the world, with 25 positions gained.
Performance was achieved in recent years with the elimination of the Schengen visa requirement, which came into effect at the end of 2015. Before that year, it was ranked 64th in the index. Only the United Arab Emirates beats it, which has managed to rise more than 40 positions.
The most powerful in the world
Beyond the economies of Latin America, the most powerful passports are between Europe and Asia. In first position, all with visa-free access to 194 jurisdictions, are France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain.
According to Christian Kaelin, president of Henley & Partners, although throughout the history of the ranking the trend has been towards greater freedom of travel, The gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than ever.
“The average number of destinations that travelers can access without a visa has almost doubled from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024. However, As we enter the new year, the top-ranked countries can now travel to a staggering 166 more visa-free destinations than Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom of the rankings with access to just 28 visa-free countries.”, he assured.
Beyond the freedom to travel, Frederic Leger, Senior Vice President of Commercial Products and Services at Iata, assured that it is important to continue with the optimization and improvement of airport processestaking into account that analyzes suggest that passenger traffic will double by 2040.
The report highlights the behavior they had, among the top positions, European countries such as the United Kingdom, which rose two places to fourth place, after completing 191 countries that can be accessed without a visa.
Besides, Australian and New Zealand passport holders improved their ranking and managed to place themselves in sixth place, with 189 visa-free destinations. In the case of the United States, the largest economy in the world, it remains in seventh place, with 188 countries in which the document is not needed.
The connection between the economy and passports
The research also reveals a relationship between economic results, influence of passports and countries with migration programs through investments.
For example, about 60% of G7 countries, which collectively represent 30% of global GDP, offer some type of program that allows you to obtain residency or citizenship in exchange for investment.
