by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 5:00 AM ET, Fri March 12, 2021
Passports around the world cost different amounts depending on which country one lives in but grant freedom to travel throughout the world. However, not all passports are equal.
First, some passports are more expensive than others; some cost what would take an average worker within a country hundreds of hours to earn, others only one hour. Second, the passports could only grant access to a handful of countries or grant access to the majority of the world.
Taking into account the average local wages and up-to-date passport pricing information, CashNetUSA put together a list of the most expensive and least affordable passports in the world.
The average cost of a passport across the globe is $74, but the average amount of work to earn that much money is 46.6 hours.
United States passports cost about $145 to obtain, making it the eighteenth priciest passport, the cost of which takes the average American worker about 4.6 hours to earn. While the average price of a passport in North America is relatively high, there is no country within the continent that it won't take an average worker a week to earn the cost of one.
The most expensive passports are Syrian passports, which cost about $800 each. According to the report from CashNetUSA, economic and political struggles have inflated the price, which was $9 less than a decade ago.
The least affordable passports are those from Malawi, which take the average worker an incredible 983.3 hours to afford, but only cost about $118, an indication of a huge economic disparity. Other least affordable passports are those from the Congo, Antigua & Barbuda and Burundi.
Local wage levels affect the ability to travel outside of the country for millions of people across the world. As an example, the similarly priced Australian and Moldovan passports, which are priced at $226 and $214, respectively, have an eighty-hour disparity in earning capability. Australian passports take 8.7 hours' wages, whereas Moldova's takes 90.4 hours.
The cheapest passports in the world, however, are Madagascar passports, which are free, though they only grant access to fifty-five countries.
One of the cheapest passports to afford and one that allows access to a whopping 189 countries is the South Korean passport, which costs $32 and about 1.6 hours to earn.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
