Being Singaporean: Visa-free travel to 159 countries

A citizen of Singapore enjoys the most freedom in the world when it comes to travel, with visa-free travel to 159 countries. In second place are Germans who can visit 158 countries visa-free.

Having a passport from Sweden or South Korea gets you into 157 countries.

Number 6 are the US or Canadian passports, which have open borders to 154 countries; the same number applies to Malaysia and Ireland, according to the Passport Index.

1. 159 countries visa-free with a Singaporean passport 2. 158 - Germany 3. 157 - Sweden, South Korea 4. 156 - Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, UK 5. 155 - Luxemburg, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Portugal 6. 154 - Malaysia, Ireland, Canada, US 7. 153 - Austria, Greece, New Zealand 8. 152 - Malta, Czech Republic, Iceland 9. 150 - Hungary 10. 149 - Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia Paraguay removed visa requirements for Singaporeans propelling Singapore's passport to the top of Passport Index' most powerful ranking with a visa-free score of 159.

Historically, the top 10 most powerful passports in the world were mostly European, with Germany having the lead for the past two years. Since early 2017, the number one position was shared with Singapore, which was steadily going up. Other Asian passports in the top 20 include those of South Korea, Japan and Malaysia.

The Passport Index is the world's reference on everything passports.

Developed by Arton Capital, a leading global advisory for residence and citizenship solutions, the Passport Index has become the most popular interactive online tool to display, sort and rank the world's passports.

According to Philippe May, Managing Director of Arton Capital's Singapore office, "For the first time ever an Asian country has the most powerful passport in the world. It is a testament of Singapore's inclusive diplomatic relations and effective foreign policy," he said.

While Singapore quietly climbed the ranks, the US passport has fallen down since Trump took office. Most recently Turkey and the Central African Republic revoked their visa-free status to US passport holders.

(Courtesy - eturbonews.com)