Johannesburg – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the best value for money passport, a new study has found.
The research, which was conducted by Park Fly Sleep, one of the globe’s leading websites to compare and book airport, hotel and flight packages, found that a passort for the region in the Western part of Asia cost $13.61 (about R217) and a mobility score of 162, the highest of any other country.
“Not only does an Emirati passport give its holder the greatest freedom and the ability to travel to 110 countries visa-free and a further 52 with a visa on arrival, but it’s also the cheapest passport to obtain,” the website said.
The second best value for money passport is Sweden, costing $42.47/£32.28/€38.39 and with a mobility score of 159.
‘Sweden is of course part of the European Union, as well as the Nordic Passport Union, and Swedish nationals can enter 115 countries visa-free, more than any other country, and a further 44 with a visa on arrival,” the researchers said.
South Korea ranked third at £33.94/$41.01/€39.12 and with a mobility score of 158.
Spain and Luxembourg closed off the top five best value for money passports in the world.
Meanwhile, Liechtenstein ranked as the worst value for money passport in the world with a passport score of just 1.06.
“Although it has a relatively high mobility score of 152 the cost of the passport is much higher than other passports available at £202.03,” Park Fly Sleep explained.
San Marino ranked the second worst, with a passport costing £83.18/$104.84/€100.00 and with a mobility score of 142
Mexico was the third worse as the researchers found that the country where a local passport gives citizens the least freedom to travel, with a mobility score of just 137, means that they can only visit 97 countries visa-free and 40 with a visa on arrival.
“It’s also not particularly cheap to obtain a passport here, with a cost of Mex$2 000, which equates to just under $100 for a six-year passport,” the website said.
Canada and Chile closed off the top five for the world’s worst value for money passports in the world.
The Park Fly Sleep research also revealed that the world's most expensive passport was France which costs £233.87/$304.26/€282.
In order to compile the research,the website analysed each country on the following factors; with each being given a normalised score out of 10 for both factors before an average of these two scores was taken to calculate the passport value score out of 10.
The first was Passport Power; a score sourced from the 2022 Passport Index, with points being given based on the number of countries that travellers can visit visa-free or with a visa on arrival.
The second was the Passport Index which updates its figures in real-time.
This data was sourced on March 16 and are correct as of this date.
The countries for which reliable data was not available were omitted.
The Park Fly Sleep added that not only do people need a passport to travel around the world, but the freedom that comes with your passport can vary quite a lot depending on where you live.
But the costs of applying for one can differ drastically too, meaning that a passport can prove to be much more valuable for some countries than others.
“Taking both the ‘power’ of a passport in terms of the number of countries you can visit, as well as the cost to buy one, we’ve revealed the world’s best value for money passports”.
“Once you’ve got your passport ready and made sure it’s safely packed away, be sure to book your airport hotel and airport parking to save time and money at the airport.”