The Global Passport Index has recently been published by Henley & Partners, as part of its ‘Henley Passport Index and Global Mobility Report’. The Index, which ranks all of the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without prior visa, places Mauritius 2nd in Africa and 31st worldwide, i.e. out of 199 countries and 227 travel destinations.

According to the Index, the holder of a Mauritius passport can travel to 145 countries without visa. This places the Mauritian passport second in the top 5 rankings for the African region, right after Seychelles which allows visa free access to 151 destinations, and ahead of South Africa, Botswana and South Africa which allow such access to 101, 82 and 75 destinations respectively.

The countries that attained the top 5 positions in the global rankings are listed below, with the number of destinations that their passport allows visa free access to:

• Japan (191);
• Singapore and South Korea (189);
• France and Germany (188);
• Denmark, Finland, Italy, Sweden (187); and
• Luxembourg and Spain (186).

The ‘Henley Passport Index and Global Mobility Report’ comments that with the globalisation of the world economy, global mobility has gained importance and become synonymous with increased access to business, financial, career and lifestyle opportunities across the world. Global mobility is a characteristic particularly demonstrated by the wealthy, who often have roots in one form or the other and even citizenship in various different countries.

The Henley Passport Index and Global Mobility Report can be accessed in full here.