Source: Henley and Partners Holdings. The value relates to the number of countries and territories that the holder of a passport can travel to without a visa.
There is a wide variety of regulatory regimes controlling the movement of foreign nationals. One such restriction concerns the emission of a visa granting temporary access to a visitor as long as the purpose of travel is leisure or business. While the nationals of developed countries tend to have few traveling restrictions, those of developing countries tend to have limitations with fewer countries open to travel without a visa. The Passport Index (formerly known as the Visa Restriction Index), assess the general freedom of travel by each country of nationality.
As of 2018, a national of Denmark could travel to 187 countries or territories without a visa, while a Chinese national could only travel to 72 countries without a visa. The rule of the thumb is that developed countries impose travel restrictions on nationals of countries that have a high likelihood of using the pretense of tourism or business travel to emigrate. As economic development takes place, travel restrictions tend to become less stringent. For instance, in 2011, a national from the United Arab Emirates could travel to 67 countries or territories without a visa, while this number climbed to 158 in 2018 (a growth of 135%).