The most powerful passports in the world — and weakest

Singaporean travelers once again have access to more visa-free travel than anyone else, after their country briefly dropped into second place last year in the annual Henley & Partners rankings of the world’s most powerful passports.

Citizens of the southeast Asian city-state have visa-free access to a record 195 global travel destinations, out of a possible 227 — in keeping with global trends toward international travel accessibility.

“The general trend over the past two decades has been towards greater travel freedom, with the global average number of destinations travelers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024,” Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners, said in a statement.

“However,” Kaelin said, “the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than it has ever been, with top-ranked Singapore able to access a record-breaking 169 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan.”

The United States declined in the passport index rankings for the third year in a row: American passports are now the eighth-most powerful, with visa-free access to most of Europe, Australia, and Latin America. Large swaths of Africa and Asia, however, require that Americans receive visas before entering their borders. A decade ago, Americans had the most powerful passports in the world, but their travel access has steadily declined in recent years.

Poorer countries continue to face tougher travel restrictions than their wealthier peers. Notably, seven of the top 10 countries that receive the most Schengen visa rejections are located in Africa.

“Africans face a triple whammy: lower passport power, higher visa rejection rates and consequently, limited economic mobility,” Mehari Taddele Maru, an adjunct professor at the School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute, wrote in the Henley & Partners report. “In short, the poorest individuals face the greatest difficulties when seeking to travel or move to more prosperous countries.”

Check out which countries have the most powerful passports — and which countries have the least powerful.