New Zealand has been named among the world’s most powerful passports, it was Sweden who took out the top spot.
In a report by Nomad Capitalist, a global consultancy firm, the New Zealand passport was ranked number 11 – the top non-European country – tied with France.
Nomad Capitalist collected data and collated it in its Nomad Passport Index 2017 which ranks each country by “value of citizenship”.
Countries were assessed on the following criteria: visa-free travel, taxation, perception, dual citizenship and overall freedom.
The top ten countries are:
~ Sweden
~ Belgium
~ Italy and Spain (T)
~ Ireland
~ Finland and Germany (T)
~ Denmark, Switzerland and Luxembourg (T)
(T) = tied
Nomad Capitalist reports the “most important factor in the value of a passport is the travel opportunities it affords” and the index places “the highest priority on visa-free travel, which is responsible for 50 per cent of each country’s total ranking”.
Popular European countries made the top of the list due to the European Union’s visa-free travel.
New Zealand scored top marks in perception, dual citizenship and overall freedom, but lost points on visa-free travel, taxation and freedom.
Afghanistan is ranked the lowest in total score, at the 199th place, and also ranked lowest in the number of countries its passport holders can travel to visa-free, which stands at just 25.
In terms of taxation, New Zealand was given the score of 30, meaning “ citizens may avoid taxation by moving overseas, without much difficulty” which is a stark contrast to Monaco or the United Arab Emirates which were scored 50 meaning “citizens are not taxed on any income no matter where they live.”
Monaco was ranked 29th in a five-way tie with South Korea, Norway, Malaysia and Estonia, while the United Arab Emirates was ranked at 70, tying with Venezuela.
The United States was ranked 35, tied with Slovenia. The US is ranked the lowest in taxation, with 10 meaning “citizens are taxed on their worldwide income no matter where they lived” a common grievance of dual-passport holders from the US.
