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A number of countries citizens’ benefit from traveling visa-free–yet they do not reciprocate this priviledge. Countries with the biggest difference between their Visa-Free Travel and Visa-Free Welcome Indices in 2015 are (with Visa-Free Travel and Visa-Free Welcome Indices, respectively, in parentheses):

1. Japan, 59% (81%, 21%)
2. Canada, 44% (59%, 16%)
3. United States, 43% (59%, 16%)
4. Puerto Rico, 42% (59%, 16%)
5. Sweden, 42% (65%, 23%)
6. Norway, 41% (64%, 23%)
7. Finland, 41% (65%, 23%)
8. France, 41% (64%, 23%)
9. United Kingdom, 41% (63%, 22%)
10. Belgium, 41% (64%, 23%)

On the other hand, countries with the greatest difference in their Visa-Free Welcome and Visa-Free Travel Indices in 2015 are:

1. Cook Islands, -89% (11%, 100%)
2. Comoros, -88% (12%, 100%)
3. Madagascar, -99% (12%, 100%)
4. Mauritania, -86% (14%, 100%)
5. Uganda, -86% (14%, 100%)
6. Guinea-Bissau, -85% (15%, 100%)
7. Togo, -84% (16%, 100%)
8. Mozambique, -71% (29%, 100%)
9. Djibouti, -70% (29%, 99%)
10. Turkey, -69% (31%, 100%).

Over the past 5-year period, from 2010 to 2015 the average Visa-Free Welcome Index gained 5.9%. Leaders of visa-free welcome over that period are (with percentage point gains of their Visa-Free Welcome Indices):

1. Guinea-Bissau, 96%
2. Kenya, 94%
3. Mauritania, 94%
4. Laos, 92%
5. Myanmar, 82%

The laggards decline was significant–as they tightened their visa-free welcome. Most significant ones are:

1. Turks and Caicos, -37%
2. Virgin Islands, -31%
3. Pakistan, -19%
4. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, -19%
5. Hong Kong, -18%.

Most countries’ Visa-Free Travel Index increased over the past 5-year period, from 2010 to 2015. For the 214 countries we follow, the average increase in the Visa-Free Travel Index was 13% points over this period.

Five countries with the greatest increase in their Visa-Free Travel Index over this period are:

1. Macau, 45%
2. Seychelles, 45%
3. Hong Kong, 41%
4. Bahamas, 38%,
5. Mauritius, 37%

Three countries’ Visa-Free Travel Indices decreased over this time period. They are:

1. Iran, -4%
2. Iraq, -1%
3. South Africa, -1%.

At 37.2%, Visa-Free Freedom Index reached its highest ever value in 2015–since the index was introduced, for 2006. At the same time, the index notched its fourth consecutive year of growth, after three years of treading water, in the 2009 to 2011 period.

All top four countries in the world, ranked by the Visa-Free Travel Index in 2015, are in Asia, and so are five out of the top 6. In the top ten list there is only one from the Americas—the Bahamas; remaining four are from Europe.

Countries making up the top ten list are (in that order):

1. Japan
2. Singapore
3. Hong Kong
4. Macau
5. The Bahamas
6. South Korea
7. Sweden
8. Finland
9. Norway
10. France

Nineteen countries welcome all the world’s citizens without a visa in 2015. They are, in alphabetical order:

1. Comoros
2. Cook Islands
3. Dominica
4. Guinea-Bissau
5. Kenya
6. Laos
7. Macau
8. Madagascar
9. Maldives
10. Mauritania
11. Micronesia, Federated States of
12. Mozambique
13. Saint Kitts and Nevis
14. Seychelles
15. Timor-Leste
16. Togo
17. Turkey
18. Tuvalu
19. Uganda

Three countries are new to the list: Kenya, Mauritania, and Turkey. Two dropped from the list, however: Samoa (introducing visas for a number of EU countries) and Sri Lanka (introducing visas for citizens of Pakistan and several primarily African countries).

Ten countries, of the 214 we track, have been welcoming all the citizens of the world, not requiring visas for a visit—for ten years now, year after year, consistently. We recognize, celebrate—and thank—these champions of welcome: they are, in alphabetical order:

1. Comoros
2. Cook Islands
3. Macau
4. Maldives
5. Micronesia
6. Mozambique
7. Timor-Leste
8. Togo
9. Tuvalu
10. Uganda

Japanese citizens remain the world’s least visa-encumbered travelers in 2015; they are able to visit 81% of the world’s population without having to obtain a visa. 2015 is the tenth year in a row that Japan claims the top spot in our ranking of countries by the Visa-Free Travel Index.