The Cyprus passport has been ranked 16th in the world in terms of the number of destinations its holders can access without a prior visa, dropping one spot on the table compared to last year, according to the latest Henley Passport Index for Q1 2023.

Holders of a Cyprus passport can travel visa-free to 177 destinations.

The Henley Passport Index ranks 199 passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access and is updated in real time throughout the year, as and when visa policy changes come into effect.

There are 109 places in the rankings, based on a ‘Visa-free score’.

According to their website, the Henley Passport Index “is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

“The index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – the largest, most accurate travel information database – and enhanced by Henley & Partners’ research team.”

The latest table placed Japan in the top spot, as its citizens can enjoy visa-free or visa-on-demand access to a record 193 destinations around the world, just ahead of Singapore and South Korea whose citizens can freely visit 192.

The United Kingdom occupied the sixth spot, at 187 visa-free destinations. It shared that ranking with France, Ireland and Portugal.

Greece ranked eighth, at 185 visa-free destinations.

The lowest ranked passport was Afghanistan’s, its holders able to access just 27 countries without a visa.

The report also added that global travel is now at around 75 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, based on data released by IATA.