According to the Henley Passport Index, which ranks the number of countries that passport holders can visit without a visa, the number of countries that Turkey can enter without a visa, which was 111 last year, reached 118 this year. In the 2024 Henley Passport Index, published quarterly, six countries shared the first place with 194 visa-free destinations.
USA WAS FIRST 10 YEARS AGO
Looking at the rest of the rankings; The top 10 is largely dominated by European countries. The UK moves up two places to 188th place, with visa-free access to 191 destinations, up from just 4 a year ago. Australian and New Zealand passport holders rose to 189th place with 6 visa-free destinations. The USA maintains its 188th place with access to 7 destinations without requiring a visa. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom and the USA shared the first place in the index in 2014…
The power of the Turkish passport has also increased. While the number of countries that can be entered with a Turkish passport was 2023 in 116, the total of countries that can be entered without a visa with a Turkish passport increased to 2024 in 118.
THE HIGHEST INCREASE IS IN THE UAE
On the other hand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues to be the country with the highest increase in the Henley Passport Index in the last 10 years. The UAE, which has added 2014 new destinations that its citizens can visit without a visa since 106, jumped 44 places in the rankings, from 55th to 11th.
Ukraine and China are among the top 10 countries that have improved their rankings the most in the last 5 years. Ukraine and China, which jumped two places last year, have risen a net 10 places in total in the last 21 years... Ukraine currently ranks 148nd with 32 visa-free destinations, while China ranks 85nd with access to 62 destinations without a visa. Although Russia has gained a net 10 new destinations in the last 24 years, its visa-free score and ranking have remained virtually unchanged since 2017. Russia currently ranks 119st with access to 51 destinations.
Henley & Partners Turkey Managing Partner Burak Demirel said, “Both visa liberalization and investment migration; It is an important lever for the economic progress of countries. The force field created by passports is the main point of this leverage. Investment migration, whether investors, nation states and citizens of that state; “It is a true win-win, long-term and sustainable solution for all stakeholders.” he said.
Demirel pointed out that economic activity is becoming more difficult globally and said, “The points of gravity are also changing. Turkish business people, who aim for new markets and economic expansions, will focus even more on foreign markets throughout 2024. In addition, we observe that the visa crises experienced in 2023 are still continuing globally. This problem inevitably restricts economic activities. In this sense, they stand out as the most important alternative citizenship and residence programs to access visa-free travel opportunities.” he said.
