The Irish passport is a pretty damn powerful one as it turns out.
The Irish passport ranks amongst the top five most powerful passports in the world, according to the 2017 Nomad Capitalist Index.
In existence since 2012, the index claims to be “designed to educate global citizens about the true value of the world’s citizenships” from the perspective of “a high-achieving citizen who wants the freedom to minimise his or her tax obligations, diversify his or her wealth, and travel freely without judgment”.
Don’t we all?
The value of citizenship in 199 countries and territories around the world is ranked using the five factors below:
- Visa-free travel – 50% of ranking
- Taxation – 20% of ranking
- Perception – 10% of ranking
- Dual citizenship – 10% of ranking
- Overall freedom – 10% of ranking
Using that methodology, Ireland ranks in the top five with a total score of 107, behind Sweden, Belgium, Italy and Spain, with our passport considered far more powerful than the likes of the United Kingdom (tied for 16th) and the United States (tied for 35th).
In terms of the methodology and the ranking of various countries, the Nomad Capitalist Index appears very similar to the Passport Index, where Ireland had a global passport power rank of sixth and an individual passport power rank of 21st last year.
The Irish passport has never been as coveted as it was in 2016, when over 733,000 Irish passports were issued, which might just have something to do with somebody deciding to leave the European Union back in June.
In January of this year, meanwhile, there were just under 71,000 applications for an Irish passport, an increase of almost 18,000 on the first month of 2016.
You can check out the Nomad Capitalist index in full here.
Nomad Capitalist index passport ranking
- Sweden
- Belgium
- Italy
- Spain
- Ireland
- Finland
- Germany
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Luxembourg
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
