New Zealand passport ranks among the world's most powerful

The New Zealand passport is sitting at number nine.
The New Zealand passport is sitting at number nine. Photo credit: Getty Images.

New Zealand's passport has been named among the world's most powerful. 

The Kiwi passport has come in at number nine, alongside Australia, Iceland and Lithuania, in the latest Henley Passport Index.

The top spot was taken by Japan and Singapore, while Finland, Germany and South Korea shared the second spot. 

The United States and the United Kingdom dropped to spot six. 

The countries were ranked based on how many places they had Visa-free access to. 

The New Zealand passport has Visa-free access to 180 places, with Japan and Singapore able to visit 189. 

The three weakest passports were Afghanistan, Iran and Syria, who all had Visa-free access to fewer than 30 countries. 

Last year the New Zealand passport was ranked at number eight with access to 182 countries. 

The Henley Passport Index top ten for 2019 is as follows:

  1. Japan and Singapore: 189
  2. Finland, Germany and South Korea: 187
  3. Denmark, Italy and Luxembourg: 186
  4. France, Spain and Sweden: 185
  5. Austria, Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland:184
  6. Belgium, Canada, Greece, Ireland, Norway, United Kingdom, United States: 183
  7. Malta:182
  8. Czech Republic: 181
  9. New Zealand, Australia, Lithuania and Iceland:180
  10. Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia:179

Newshub.