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Research · updated monthly

GI Passport Strength Index (GIPS) 2026

Once you hold a passport, how strong and how stable is it? The GI Passport Strength Index (GIPS) looks at the passport itself: how many places it opens without a visa, how stable that access is, and the quality of life at home. How hard it is to get does not count.

Data updated: 2026-10-15 · ▲▼ = rank change since the 2026 edition
Visa-free countriesVisa-free stabilityQuality of life
199 passportsSelect a passport for details

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Method

The GIPS score combines three pillars, each scored 0 to 100 and weighted: visa-free countries 40%, visa-free stability 20%, quality of life 40%. Countries that tax citizens living abroad (currently the US and Eritrea) lose 10 points.

Visa-free countries: destinations open without a visa, on arrival or with an electronic travel authorisation, half by number and half by the destinations' economic size (GDP). Visa-free stability: whether major destinations (Schengen area, UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China and Ireland) removed or reviewed visa-free access for the passport in the last five years, weighted by economic size. Quality of life: global percentiles for homicide rate, education, health coverage, healthy life expectancy and governance.

GIPS leaves out how hard, slow or costly a passport is to get, and residence-based tax, because these depend on where the holder lives rather than which passport they hold. For whether a passport is worth investing to get, see the GI Passport Investment Index (GIPI).

Ranks follow the score to one decimal; equal scores share a rank. "More / fewer visa-free destinations than your passport" is the net difference between the two passports' visa-free counts (destinations gained minus destinations lost). Visa-free means no visa needed in advance (visa-free, visa on arrival or an electronic travel authorisation such as ESTA or eTA); e-visas applied for online in advance do not count. Destinations are 198 countries plus 30 territories such as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Guam, 228 in all; the holder country's own territories are not counted.

Method version 1.0, finalised on 16 October 2026 and not changed afterwards; only the data are updated. If a data source stops publishing, the closest replacement is used and the change is announced.

Sources: passport-index-data (visas) and Wikipedia visa-requirement pages (compared every month; changes are added once verified against official sources; for territories a silent page falls back to the parent country's rule), World Bank, World Health Organization, UNDP, UNODC, and immigration and tax authority notices. Visa and economic data update every month; programme conditions are reviewed every quarter.

Disclosure: Global Immigrate advises on investment migration. The method, weights and sources are public, and scores are not adjusted for commercial reasons.

Licence: GIPS data is published under CC BY-NC 4.0. You may quote or reuse it for non-commercial purposes with credit to the GI Passport Strength Index (GIPS) and a link to this page.

This index is for reference only and is not legal, tax or investment advice. Programme conditions can change at any time; confirm current requirements with an adviser before applying.

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