UAE passport is world’s second most powerful on mobility index

The UAE passport ranked second globally on the mobility index in the 2026 edition of the Global Passport Index issued by Global Citizen Solutions, substantiating its position among the world’s most powerful passports in terms of ease of international travel and investment opportunities.

The Global Passport Index 2026 is based on a comprehensive assessment of 197 countries and territories across 14 indicators distributed across three main themes; namely, enhanced mobility, investment, and quality of life, with the aim of measuring the actual value of passports from the perspective of travel, investment, and residence.

According to the ranking, the UAE passport came in second globally on the Enhanced Mobility Index, as it allows its holders to travel to 183 destinations around the world.

These include 123 destinations without the need for a prior visa and 60 destinations that can be entered by obtaining a visa on arrival or an electronic travel permit, while only 11 destinations require a prior visa.

The enhanced mobility index is the most important component of the ranking, accounting for 50 per cent of the overall index weight. This index not only counts the number of destinations available to the passport holder, but also considers the attractiveness of those destinations in terms of quality of life, standard of living, and stability.

As far as investment is concerned, the UAE passport ranked fourth globally on the investment index, scoring 79.8 points and this reflected the strength of the country’s economic and investment environment and its attractiveness to investors and entrepreneurs.

The investment index is based on a comprehensive assessment of multiple factors, including economic competitiveness, business environment, strength of the national economy and the level of personal taxes.

It also draws on six key pillars of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index; namely, product and labour markets, financial system, market size, business dynamism, innovation capacity and per capita gross national income (GNI) at purchasing power parity (PPP).

The report showed that the UAE passport also ranked first in the Middle East and 21st globally on the general index, which combined indicators of mobility, investment and quality of life.

At the global level, Sweden retained first place in the overall ranking with 96.05 points, followed by Switzerland, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands, while Afghanistan came in last place.

The report indicated that the 2026 edition of the index reflected the continued global disparity in freedom of movement, with the gap widening between the world’s strongest and weakest passports, at a time when many countries were moving towards strengthening digital border management systems and continuing to use visa policies as an economic and geopolitical tool.