Czech passport is one of world's most powerful, outranks US

Czechia is tied for seventh out of 227 countries in the newly released 2024 Henley Passport index, with a stronger passport than the likes of the U.S., Slovakia, and Hong Kong. Out of all European countries, it ranks sixth.

The firm behind the index, travel-based legal firm Henley & Partners, bases its calculations on the number of countries passport holders can visit visa-free. It also factors in the country’s general diplomatic relations globally and its bilateral international agreements. Countries with strong diplomatic ties and positive international relations often have powerful passports that offer their citizens extensive visa-free access to other countries.

The index, Henley & Partner’s website says, "is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association, which is the world’s largest travel information database."

Holders of a Czech passport can travel to 187 countries worldwide without a visa. The small list of countries that require a visa (either paper or electronic) for Czech passport holders includes: Australia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, India, and Vietnam. Countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, and Zimbabwe provide visas upon arrival.

Czechia has improved markedly since the index's inception in 2006, when it was ranked 21st. Czechia broke into the top-10 ranked passports in 2014 and has been on an upward trend since. 

Czechia shares seventh spot with Canada, Hungary, and Malta. Out of all Central and Eastern European countries, only Poland has a stronger passport. Only a handful of nations have a passport that allows for more visa-free travel, including South Korea, Sweden, Ireland, and Belgium. Singapore crowns the ranking, whereas Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq come at the bottom.

This is not the first time this year that Czechia has performed strongly in passport-related rankings. In March, financial advisor Nomad Capitalist released its Nomad Passport Index, which established the “best” passports (and citizenships) to hold worldwide. 

The index bases passports’ strength not only on visa-free travel, but also on taxation laws, global perception, dual citizenship, and personal freedom. Czechia was ranked an impressive 14th out of 199 nationalities.