For the second consecutive year, the Australian passport is acknowledged as the priciest globally, though research indicates its influence is diminishing. 

Following the latest price hike in January, a ten-year Australian passport costs $412, which works out to an average fee of $41.20 per year. 

Australia’s passport cost is significantly higher than other countries, with Mexico ranking second at $33.59 annually, followed by the United States at $25.12 annually, and New Zealand at $22.56 annually, according to Compare the Market research. 

Australian passport fees rose by 3.5 per cent in line with inflation in January, following a one-off 15 per cent hike in July last year. 

Despite its high cost, Australia ranks seventh in terms of passport power, offering visa-free entry to 185 nations. 

Research by Henley and Partners shows Australia’s passport standing on par with Czechia, Hungary, Malta, and Poland, which are far less expensive. 

On this measure, Australia fell one place compared with last year and was beaten by a total of 21 countries including the UK and New Zealand.  

Singapore was ranked first in providing visa-free access to 193 countries, followed by Japan and South Korea with 190. 

The Australian passport is the most expensive in the world (stock)

This shows the Australian passport is not only most expensive on an annual basis but also on a per-country basis for visa-free travel. 

With a cost per visa-free country of $2.23, it placed ahead Mexico in second place at $2.13, Fiji in third at $1.59 and the US in fourth at $1.38.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade defends the high costs, citing advanced technology and anti-fraud features, yet criticism persists due to a known issue with curling edges. 

DFAT has also batted away suggestions the passport is over-priced by pointing to the number of countries holders are allowed visa-free access to. 

Even though the Australian passport price is adjusted for inflation, a one-time price increase was implemented last July on top of the regular annual adjustment. 

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the July increase would raise $349 million over three years, with the windfall earmarked for the rising costs of passport production. 

In November, Opposition Senate Leader Simon Birmingham called Labor’s passport fee hikes a ‘backdoor tax grab’.

‘Under Labor Australian passport fees have gone up 22.5 per cent,’ he said.

Despite being the most expensive, the Aussie passport is far from the most powerful

‘What the Albanese government labelled as a ‘modest’ increase to passport fees is now seen for the backdoor tax grab that is it.’

Following the price hike in January, Education Minister Jason Clare said the government was more focused on costs of ‘things that affect Australians every single day’. 

Mr Birmingham, however, described a passport as a ‘basic entitlement’ and that any cost fluctuations could affect swathes of hard-working Aussies. 

According to the Australian Passport office over 15million Australians have a current passport, north of 55 per cent of the population. 

‘Many Australians scrimp and save to afford a special holiday to Bali or Fiji, only to find the cost of a passport is similar to the cost of an airfare,’ Mr Birmingham said.

‘Under Labor, Australians are paying record sums for the privilege of a passport that should be a basic entitlement not an expensive luxury.’