The Singapore passport is again ranked the world’s most powerful, offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 193 destinations out of 227 globally, according to the Henley Passport Index (HPI) released in July 2025. Singapore also held the top position in the January 2025 edition, with visa-free access to 195 destinations. The decrease from 195 to 193 destinations is attributed to Pakistan and West Africa’s Mauritania switching from a visa-on-arrival to e-visa system. E-visas, which require travellers to obtain approval prior to departure, are not considered visa-free access for HPI.
In the latest Index, Asian nations continue to lead the global mobility race, with Japan and South Korea sharing second place. Each country grants their citizens access to 190 destinations visa-free.
A strong European contingent occupies the rest of the Top 5 list. Seven EU passports share third place – Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain – all with access to 189 destinations. Another seven-nation European cohort, with visa-free entry to 188 destinations, are joint fourth – Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. New Zealand, the only nation to challenge the regional dominance, ties in fifth place with Greece and Switzerland.
At the other end of the global mobility spectrum, Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the ranking, with its citizens able to access just 25 destinations without a prior visa. This is a staggering mobility gap of 168 destinations between the top-ranked and bottom-ranked passports.
The UK and US each dropped a place in the global passport rankings since January 2025, continuing a long-term downward trend. Once the most powerful passports in the world – the UK in 2015 and the US in 2014 – they now rank sixth and 10th, respectively. The UK currently has visa-free access to 186 destinations, while the US trails with 182. Notably, the US is now on the brink of exiting the Top 10 altogether for the first time in HPI’s 20-year history.
India has recorded the largest jump in ranking over the past six months, climbing eight places from 85th to 77th, despite only adding two destinations to its visa-free tally, now at 59. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has made the biggest gain in visa-free access, adding four destinations since January. Its total now stands at 91, lifting the kingdom four places to 54th.
Dr Christian H. Kaelin, the inventor of the passport index concept, says the latest Index reveals an increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility. “The consolidation we’re seeing at the top underscores that access is earned – and must be maintained – through active and strategic diplomacy. Nations that proactively negotiate visa waivers and nurture reciprocal agreements continue to rise, while the opposite applies to those that are less engaged in such efforts.”
The Index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and enhanced by the Henley & Partners research team. It compares and ranks the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations.
© 2024 Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants
