Malta took first place in the ranking of the most valuable citizenships in the world according to the Nomad Passport Index 2026, prepared by the Nomad Capitalist company. The country received 109 points, ahead of Ireland, Greece and Romania, who shared second place with a score of 108.
Unlike traditional passport rankings, which mainly consider the number of visa-free destinations, the Nomad Passport Index evaluates citizenship more broadly — as a tool for global mobility, tax planning, personal freedom and international reputation. The methodology uses five criteria: visa-free access, taxation of citizens, perception of the country in the world, the possibility of having dual citizenship and the level of personal freedoms.
The top ten of the rating looks like this: Malta - 1st place, Ireland, Greece and Romania - 2nd place, Cyprus - 5th place, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Italy and Bulgaria - 6th place, Hungary and the UAE - 10th place. Thus, the upper part of the rating is dominated by European countries, especially EU states, which combine a high level of mobility, the opportunity to live and work in a single European space and a relatively strong international reputation.
Malta received 172 points for travel, 40 points for taxation and a maximum of 50 points for international perception, dual citizenship and personal freedoms. This balance allowed it to take first place, despite the fact that it is inferior to a number of other passports in terms of the number of visa-free destinations.
An interesting feature of the rating was the high place of Romania, which shared the second position with Ireland and Greece. Romanian citizenship received 108 points, including 172 points for travel, 40 points for taxation, 40 points for country perception and maximum marks for dual citizenship and freedoms.
Singapore, which often ranks first in passport rankings for visa-free access, was only ranked 20th in the Nomad Passport Index. His passport has a high travel score of 175, but a low score for the possibility of dual citizenship limits the final result. This shows a key difference in the Nomad Capitalist ranking: it assesses not only the freedom of travel, but also the practical flexibility of citizenship for globally mobile people.
The US ranked 43rd with 100 points. Despite strong international acceptance and a high level of mobility, American citizenship receives a low rating on the tax criterion, since the USA is one of the few countries in the world that applies taxation of citizens based on the principle of citizenship, and not just residency.
