The world’s most powerful passports for 2025 have been revealed, but the US and Britain have slipped down the list compared to last year.
The global ranking indicates how many countries citizens can enter visa-free around the world.
This year, Singapore has the most powerful passport in the world, allowing its citizens to visit as many as 195 of the 227 destinations around the world visa-free.
The British passport has fallen from fourth to fifth place in the past year, after topping the index in 2015.
The country’s citizens – together with those from Belgium, New Zealand, Switzerland and Portugal – can visit 190 countries visa-free.
The US also fell in the rankings, from seventh to ninth, with visa-free access to 186 countries. But it is still a long way from its 2014 rankings, when it tied for first place with Britain.
Also on the index’s losers list is Canada, which has fallen three places over the past decade from fourth to its current seventh position. Australia maintained its position in sixth place, with visa-free access to 189 countries.
The list was compiled by the Henley Passport Indexbased on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). It analyzes how many countries a passport holder can enter without a prior visa.
The British passport has fallen from fourth to fifth place in the past year, after topping the index in 2015
This year, Singapore (pictured) has the most powerful passport in the world, allowing its citizens to visit an astonishing 195 of the 227 destinations around the world visa-free
Latest research shows Japan (pictured) has the second most powerful passport in the world with visa-free access to 193 countries
The latest research shows that Japan has the second most powerful passport in the world with visa-free access to 193 countries.
The peoples of Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and South Korea (joint third) all have visa-free access to 192 countries. Four of these countries – France, Germany, Italy and Spain – have fallen two places compared to last year’s index.
An EU cohort of seven countries, all with visa-free access to 191 destinations – Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden – share fourth place.
The rest of the index’s Top 10 is largely dominated by EU countries, with the exception of Australia, Canada, the US and the UAE, one of the biggest gainers of the past decade, which has secured a further 72 destinations since 2015, putting the country in 10th place. place with visa-free access to 185 destinations worldwide.
Afghanistan remains anchored at the bottom of the index, with a visa-free entry score of just 26 (down from 28 last year), creating the largest mobility gap in the index’s 19-year history, with Singaporeans able to travel to 169 more destinations visa-free than holders of an Afghan passport.
Christian Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners, said: “The idea of citizenship and its birthright lottery needs a fundamental rethink as temperatures rise and natural disasters become more frequent and severe, displacing communities and making their environments uninhabitable.
“At the same time, political instability and armed conflict in several regions are forcing countless people to flee their homes in search of safety and refuge.”
Afghanistan is followed by Syria (27), Iraq (31), Yemen (33), Pakistan (33) and Somalia (35), which together form the six weakest passports in the world.
The people of Finland (pictured), France, Germany, Italy, Spain and South Korea (joint third) all have visa-free access to 192 countries
The US also fell in the rankings, from seventh to ninth, with visa-free access to 186 countries. But it is still a long way from its 2014 rankings, when it tied for first place with Britain
The Palestinian Territory is slightly ahead with a visa-free entry score of 40, putting it in 100th place together with Libya and Bangladesh.
In contrast, China is among the biggest gainers, rising from 94th in 2015 to 60th in 2025, with its visa-free score increasing by 40 destinations.
The Henley Passport Index includes 199 passports, providing users with comprehensive and reliable information about their global access and mobility.
With historical data spanning 19 years and regularly updated expert analysis on the latest shifts in passport power, the index is an invaluable resource for global citizens and the standard reference tool for public policy in this area.