The Japanese passport ranks high in terms of strength, but the Japanese do not like to travel abroad

The UAE passport has topped the list for the fourth consecutive year, with visa-free access to more than 90% of the world, a total of 133 countries; 47 countries can be visited with a visa on arrival.

Spain surpassed Germany (5) to become the world’s second strongest passport, while Finland jumped to third, surpassing France (4), Belgium (6) and Italy (7).

Japan is the world’s strongest passport, but the Japanese do not like to travel abroad.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on February 20 that the number of passports issued in 2024 will be 3.82 million. By the end of 2024, the cumulative number of valid passports will be 21.64 million, with a holding rate of 17.5%. This figure is much lower than that of South Korea and the United States, where the holding rate is 40% to 50%. The reason behind this is the increase in travel costs caused by the depreciation of the yen and the change in awareness among young people.

Compared with 2023, the number of Japanese passports issued has increased slightly by 300,000. Compared with 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of issued passports has decreased by about 700,000, with the number of issued passports in that year being 4.51 million.

The Japanese passport is known as the “strongest in the world” because of the large number of countries and regions that can be visa-free. According to the “Passport Index” of British consulting firm Henley & Partners, Japan is 190, ranking second.

The ownership rate obtained by dividing the number of available passports by the population was 24% in 2013, and has continued to decline since then, falling below 20% in 2021. About 1 in 6 Japanese people have a passport.

Due to the depreciation of the yen and rising prices at travel destinations, more and more Japanese people have eliminated overseas travel from their leisure options. In addition, the cost of studying abroad is also rising for Japanese people.

“During the pandemic, it was impossible to travel abroad, and I found that I could fully enjoy my leisure time by traveling domestically (in Japan), which may have had an impact,” said Yoko Hayano, chief researcher at JTB Research Institute.