The Irish passport is one of the most powerful in the world, according to the latest rankings from the Henley and Partners Passport Index.
The index uses exclusive data received from the International Air Transport Association to review countries across the world and give them ranking scores based how freely they allow holders to travel.
The Republic of Ireland passport finished an impressive sixth place in the world, and third in Europe, thanks to the fact that holders can obtain visa-free travel to 183 countries around the world.
Ireland has been a consistently high performer, having finished at 4th place and 7th place over the last ten years.
That doesn’t look likely to come to end any time soon, according to Paddy Blewer, group public relations director at Henley.
Mr Blewer expects the Irish passport to become even more sought after in the coming years.
He said: “Given the fact that Ireland is stable both economically and politically, is a core member of the European Union and is a safe country, the Irish passport will continue to be highly sought.”
Japan and Singapore were the two most powerful passports in the index, with both allowing holders visa free access to 189 countries.
The country with the least powerful passport in the world was Afghanistan. The passport only allows visa free travel to 25 countries.
The UK will soon be leaving the European Union and has seen a decline in the power of its passport. The power of the US passport has also fallen.
The UK and US passports were the joint most powerful in 2014, but are now joint 6th along with Ireland, Canada, Norway, Greece and Belgium.
Top five most powerful passports
1 – Japan (Holders can visit 189 countries without a visa)
= – Singapore (189)
3 – South Korea (187)
= – Finland (187)
= – Germany (187)
For more information visit the Henley and Partners Passport Index.