Singapore passport ranked "world's most powerful"

Tiny Singapore now has the world's most powerful passport, according to a new ranking, with its citizens able to travel to the greatest number of countries visa free.

Passport Index, which keeps track of how useable such documents are, said the city-state grabbed the top spot after Paraguay removed restrictions for Singaporeans.

That means the approximately 3.4 million holders of Singaporean passports can now travel to 159 countries either without a visa at all, or can have one issued on arrival.

"For the first time ever, an Asian country has the most powerful passport in the world," Philippe May, managing director of Arton Capital's Singapore office, said in a statement.

"It is a testament of Singapore's inclusive diplomatic relations and effective foreign policy."

Germany came in second place, with its citizens able to visit 158 countries without a visa, while Sweden and South Korea tied for third.

Passport Index ranks passports worldwide based on the cross-border access a holder has. It was developed by Canada-based global consultancy Arton Capital.

US passport's usefulness falls

The US passport was in sixth place, alongside Malaysia, Ireland and Canada.

Afghanistan came bottom of the list with visa-free access to just 22 countries.

Passport Index said that the US passport's usefulness has fallen since President Donald Trump took office, with Turkey and the Central African Republic becoming the most recent countries to revoke their visa-free entry for holders.

Meanwhile, in his address at the Asia-Pacific Geo-Economic Strategy Forum on Wednesday,  Singapore's Senior Minister of State Mohamad Maliki bin Osman expressed concern over the "wave of populist nationalism" in the western countries, saying the deep-seated anger over growing income inequality and immigrations have shaped voting patterns in the West.  

"The rise of economic nationalism, especially during election campaigns, has slowed the momentum of the multilateral free trade agenda," he said.

"In our view, the problem is not free and open trade.  Rather, governments must make sure that the net benefits from trade are distributed in an equitable and inclusive fashion."