Malta’s passport has retained its ranking as the ninth most powerful in the world in terms of mobility opportunities, offering visa-free travel to 150 countries, according to an international study.

Known as the Passport Index, the analysis is done on a regular basis by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital, which specialises in investor programmes for residence and citizenships.

Compared to the last index, issued in November of last year, Germany stayed at the top spot with a visa-free score of 157.

The figure represents the number of countries which German passport holders can enter without a visa. However, Singapore overtook South Korea in second place, thus becoming the highest ranked Asian passport, with a visa-free score of 156.

Germany retained top spot with a visa-free score of 157

Though Malta’s overall ranking is ninth, 28 countries have a better score, for the simple reason that a number share the same position.

While Germany is alone in the top spot, two countries are ranked in second place, with the third post shared among eight others. In this respect Malta fell one place down to 29 overall among 199 participants when compared to the last survey.

A host of Middle Eastern and Asian countries crippled by political instability and civil conflicts have the worst rankings, with Afghanistan placing last, reflecting the fact that its visa-free score is just 23.

The analysis also gives a separate rank for countries which have a cash-for-passports scheme. In this respect, Malta’s Individual Investor Programme took top spot among eight countries, including Cyprus and Bulgaria, which offer the option, and several Caribbean destinations. Launched in January 2014, the programme allows non-EU nationals to acquire Maltese citizenship through a contribution of €1.15 million in cash, real estate and stocks or bonds under an obligatory one-year residency clause.

Up to June last year, the number of naturalisations through the IIP had already reached 177, which is roughly 10 per cent of the 1,800 threshold. Once this limit is reached, the programme will be closed. However, when taking into account the dependents of the successful applicants, the number of beneficiaries soars to 477.

Data released by the regulator last November shows that by June 2016, the total revenue from this scheme exceeded €218.7 million.

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