I'd hardly call visa-free access to 6 fewer countries (185 vs 191) as "fairly low ranking". I actually went through the list to see what the differences were i

I'd hardly call visa-free access to 6 fewer countries (185 vs 191) as "fairly low ranking". I actually went through the list to see what the differences were in terms of access between Japan (the top ranking passport right now) and the US passport. These are ignoring any COVID related temporary closures. A Japanese passport will get you into the following countries visa-free that the US passport won't: - China - India - Myanmar - Pakistan - Vietnam - Suriname - Venezuela - Azerbaijan - Iran - Turkey A US passport will get you into the following countries visa-free that the Japanese passport won't: - Burkina Faso - Central African Republic To be honest, nearly all of the above make sense - US-China relations are bad - The US middle-eastern wars have pissed off: - Pakistan - Azerbaijan - Iran - Turkey - The US currently has sanctions against Venezuela I am a little surprised about India, Myanmar, Suriname, and Vietnam. However, it doesn't appear that European passports will get you into India visa-free either.