German citizens possess the world's most powerful passport, according to an annual study, with Britain and the US falling just short of the top spot.

一项年度调查显示，德国公民的护照是世界上最强大的，接下来是英国和美国护照。

The ranking by Henley & Partners, a citizenship¹ and planning firm, takes into account how many countries can be visited without applying for a visa.

该调查由提供移民项目的亨氏顾问公司（Henley & Partners）执行。该公司根据公民可免签前往国家的数量对各国护照进行了排名。

German passport holders² can travel to 177, out of a possible 218, while Britons can visit 175 and US citizens 174.

在全球约218个国家中，持有德国护照的居民可以免签前往177个国家，英国护照可免签前往175个国家，美国护照则是174个。

The UK topped the 2015 rankings, alongside³ Germany, but ceded⁴ the top spot after several countries relaxed visa restrictions⁵ to the latter. It was also leapfrogged by Sweden and now shares third place with France, Italy, Spain and Finland.

2015年英国和德国在该榜单上并列第一，但之后有几个国家对德放开了签证限制，使得德国跃居第一。而瑞典赶超了英国，位居第二。现在英国和法国、意大利、西班牙和芬兰并列第三。

Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands share fourth spot with the US.

比利时、丹麦、荷兰和美国并列第四。

The world's least powerful passport belongs to citizens of Afghanistan, who can visit just 25 countries without a visa.

全球最弱的护照来自阿富汗，阿富汗公民只可以免签前往25个国家。

"Generally, there was significant⁶ movement across the board with only 21 of the 199 countries listed remaining in the same rank," said Henley & Partners.

亨氏顾问公司说：“总体来说，此次排名的变动很大，列出的199个国家中只有21个与之前的排名相同。”

"No country, however, dropped more than three positions, indicating that overall⁷, visa-free access is improving around the world.

“但是没有国家下降超过三个名次，这意味着，总体上全球免签入境正在增多。”

"Four countries in particular made huge gains; Tonga rising 16 spots, Palau by 20, Colombia by 25 and Timor-Leste being the highest climber with an increase of 33 ranks.

“有四个国家进步很大：汤加上升16位，帕劳20位，哥伦比亚升了25位，东帝汶上升最多，往上升了33位。”

"Malta, the EU member country which runs the world’s most successful citizenship-by-investment program has gained visa-free access to another two countries since 2015, making it the 8th most powerful passport in the world.

“欧盟成员国马耳他实行世界上最成功的‘投资获国籍’项目。从2015年以来，它又新增了两个免签国家，排名变为第八。”

"The leading country in the Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda, meanwhile ranked 30th and its passport-holders may now travel to 134 countries visa-free.

“加勒比的主要国家安提瓜和巴布达排名30，可以免签去134个国家。”

"Portugal, which holds the most attractive residence-by-investment program through its Golden Visa Program, has taken 6th position in the 2016 Index⁸, gaining two countries to total 172 countries its citizens may travel to visa-free.The global progress in travel freedom looks set to continue for citizens of all countries."

“葡萄牙的‘黄金签证’投资落地政策最吸引人。2016年葡萄牙排名第6，新增2个免签国家，免签国家总数达到172个。各个国家的公民全球免签旅行的机会都在不断增加。”

The world's most powerful passports

全球最强护照国

1 Germany, 177 countries can be visited without a visa1.

德国，177个免签国家

2 Sweden, 1762.

瑞典，176 个免签国家

3 Finland, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, 175

芬兰、法国、意大利、西班牙、英国，175个免签国家

4 Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, United States, 174

比利时、丹麦、荷兰、美国，174个免签国家

5 Austria, Japan, Singapore, 173

奥地利、日本、新加坡，173个免签国家

6 Canada, Ireland (Republic of), Korea (Republic of, South), Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, 172

加拿大、爱尔兰、韩国、卢森堡、挪威、葡萄牙、瑞士，172 个免签国家

7 Greece, New Zealand, 171

希腊、新西兰，171个免签国家

8 Australia, 169

澳大利亚，169个免签国家

9 Malta, 168

马耳他，168个免签国家

10 Hungary, Czech Republic, Iceland, 167

匈牙利、捷克共和国、冰岛，167个免签国家

The world's least powerful passports

全球最弱护照国

1 Afghanistan, 25 countries can be visited without a visa

阿富汗，25个免签国家

2 Pakistan, 29

巴基斯坦，29个免签国家

3 Iraq, 30

伊拉克，30个免签国家

4 Somalia, 31

索马里，31个免签国家

5 Syria, 32

叙利亚，32个免签国家

6 Libya, 36

利比亚，36个免签国家

7 Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Nepal, Palestinian Territory, Sudan, 37

厄立特里亚、埃塞俄比亚、伊朗、尼泊尔、巴勒斯坦、苏丹，37个免签国家

8 Kosovo, South Sudan, Yemen, 38

科索沃、南苏丹、也门，38个免签国家

9 Bangladesh, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Lebanon, Sri Lanka, 39

孟加拉国、刚果（民主共和国）、黎巴嫩、斯里兰卡，39个免签国家

10 Burundi, Korea (The Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Myanmar, 42

布隆迪、朝鲜、缅甸，42个免签国家