Luxembourg citizenship was ranked the best in the world by Nomad Matic Zorman/archives

Luxembourg citizenship was ranked the best in the world by Nomad Matic Zorman/archives

The 2019 Nomad Passport Index placed Luxembourg in the top spot for the second year running, a significant improvement given it placed tenth two years ago.

The index ranks 199 citizenships on 5 factors, including the number of countries to which a country passport permits visa-free travel, international taxation laws, global perception, dual citizenship and personal freedoms.

In its ranking, Nomad cites the 2017 change in nationality laws, easing access to the Luxembourg passport by reducing the number of years applicants must be resident from 7 to 5.

The Luxembourg passport was followed in the top 10 by that of Switzerland, Sweden (in joint second), Ireland and Belgium (joint fourth), Italy, Portugal and Finland (joint sixth) and Spain and France (joint tenth).

In terms of visa-free travel, Luxembourg grants its passport holders access to some 186 destinations, according to the 2019 Henley Passport Index.