The World’s Most Expensive Passports

How many hours would you need to work to afford one of these powerful passports?
by Abu Poblete | November 25, 2015

Passport Index ranks the most powerful passports in the world, basing it on the number of countries a citizen can visit without a visa. The higher the number of visa-free countries, the more powerful a passport is. The United Kingdom and United States ranked the highest in the list with 147 visa-free countries, while the Philippines (together with Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Bahrain, and Mali, among others) ranked 57th with only 60 countries that passport holders can visit visa-free.

For the people of Statista, a leading statistics company, the power of passports isn’t the only thing travellers should look out for, but also its price. This November they released a list of the most expensive passports in the world and how many minimum wage hours it would take a person to buy one.

Compared to the Philippines’ passport that’s worth US $*60 (Php 2,827), the passports of the following countries are way heavier for its citizens’ wallets:

United States of America

Ranking as the most powerful passport together with the UK’s, an American passport is also one of the most expensive ones. An American passport is worth US $135 (Php 6,361) and would take 19 minimum wage hours to be able to afford one.

Mexico

Not only is Mexico’s passport one of the most expensive (US $155 or Php 7,303), it’s also the one with the most required number of minimum wage hours before you can afford one. A minimum wage worker should work at least 266 hours for this passport.

Switzerland

A Swiss passport is worth just US $4 more than a Mexican passport, but compared to Mexico’s 266 minimum wage hours, the citizens of the Land of Milk and Honey only need to work for 9 hours to be able to afford a passport. This is because a Swiss minimum wage worker earns the equivalent of US $25 dollars a day, while their Mexican counterpart earns a mere US $4 a day.

Australia

Australia isn’t only the home of kangaroos, vegemite, the best surf places and hot lifeguards, it’s also the home of the second most expensive passports in the world. At US $206 (Php 9,706), Australian minimum wage workers have to work 15 hours to be able to afford a passport.

Turkey

At US $251 or Php 11,827, the Turkish passport gets the top spot of the most expensive passports. 95 minimum wage hours is what it takes for a worker to afford one.

There have been complaints within Turkey about it’s passport’s price, so the government decided to reduce it by almost 50 percent. Yep, that US $251 is already the reduced price, and it’s still the most expensive in the world.

Here are also two cool passports you may want to look at.

 

Have any more passport facts you want to share? Share them in the comments below!

*US $1 = Php 47