Palau now ranks the highest among passports in the Pacific in terms of highest economic mobility based on visa-free travel in 2023, according to the 2024 Henley Passport Index.
The island nation is in the top spot among the Pacific island nations with access to 123 destinations, which means individuals holding Palauan passports can travel visa-free to 123 destinations including the United States and the United Kingdom.
The index has evaluated the countries’ economic mobility by combining Henley Passport Index data and World Bank GDP data, this interactive tool ranks all 199 passports in the world in terms of their Henley Passport Power (HPP) score — an indicator of the percentage of global GDP each passport provides to its holders visa-free.
Palau’s economic strength has impacted its ranking of its passport power although it might not have visa-free access to some countries compared to the other Pacific islands nations
Palauans however still need visas to 103 destinations and this year climbed on the top of the Pacific islands passport ranking (excluding Australia and New Zealand) .
The Henley and Partners passport index ranks the travel documents based on data from the International Air Transport Association, a trade association of international airlines. Henley & Partners, is a London-based residence and citizenship planning and announces rankings annually.
In the citizenship ranking, however, Palauan passports ranked 48th with Solomon Islands at 41st but for the economic mobility index, Solomon Island ranked 81st.
Last year Solomon Islands ranked the most powerful passports among the Pacific island nations, listed as 39th in the global ranking but fell to the 41st rank.
Meanwhile, Japan, Singapore, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain shared the top spot as the world’s most powerful passports with access to 193 destinations.