New Zealand passport among the world's most powerful

The New Zealand passport was ranked the seventh most powerful. Photo / iStock

A New Zealand passport will get you places - and it's been named the seventh most powerful passport in the world.

A recent study by Henley & Partners, a London-based consulting firm that specialises in citizenship services, rates world passport's based on how much visa-free travel they entitle their owner to.

While Germany was ranked at the top of the list with visa-free access to 177 countries out of 218, New Zealand tied for seventh place with Greece.

Both countries are able to visit 171 countries, visa free.

After three consecutive years at number one, the United Kingdom dropped to third place, with Sweden coming in second.

And when it came to the least powerful passports, Afghanistan was at the bottom of the table with visa-free access to just 25 countries.

The most powerful passports

1. Germany - 177
2. Sweden - 176
3. Finland, France, Italy, Spain, UK - 175
4. Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, US - 174
5. Austria, Japan, Singapore - 173
6. Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Switzerland - 172
7. Greece, New Zealand - 171
8. Australia - 169
9. Malta - 168
10. Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland - 167

The least powerful passports

1. Afghanistan - 25
2. Pakistan - 29
3. Iraq - 30
4. Somalia - 31
5. Syria - 32
6. Libya - 36
7. Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Nepal, Palestinian Territory, Sudan - 37
8. Kosovo, South Sudan, Yemen - 38
9. Bangladesh, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Lebanon, Sri Lanka - 39
10. Burundi, North Korea, Myanmar - 42