The 16 countries with the most powerful passports

(The Passport Index (The Passport Index)

If you have citizenship in Sweden, you have a great deal of travelling power — Swedes can fly to 158 countries without ever showing a visa. This makes international travel cheaper and easier than it is for citizens of many other countries, like those of Afghanistan, who can enter just 24 countries without a visa.

These stark differences are revealed in the Passport Index, which ranks countries based on the number of nations where residents can go without purchasing a visa in advance or on arrival. The global financial advisory firm Arton Capital compiled government data from 193 countries and six territories to create the 2016 ranking.

The US makes the top 16, but that could change over the next four years under the Trump administration, according to Arton Capital CEO John Hanafin. If US foreign-policy relations sour with other countries, like Mexico and Germany, visa-free agreements could freeze or break, which would damage the passport power for Americans.

Here are the 16 highest-ranking countries.

16. The United States — 155 countries

(Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Commons)

14. Norway — 155 countries

13. Belgium — 155 countries

12. The Netherlands — 155 countries

11. Italy — 155 countries

10. Denmark — 155 countries

9. Singapore — 155 countries

8. The United Kingdom — 156 countries

UK (EU) passport with biometric symbol on cover (Rex)

7. South Korea — 156 countries

6. Spain — 156 countries

5. Switzerland — 156 countries

Swiss passports are bright red. (Studio Araminta/Shutterstock)

4. France — 156 countries

3. Finland — 156 countries

2. Sweden — 157 countries

1. Germany — 158 countries

• 25 habits that psychologists have linked with happiness
• 27 stunning images that were taken by Google Street View
• Here's what 15 of the most popular brand names really mean

Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.