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The Henley Passport Index measures the power of each country’s passports each year. The index uses historical data (spanning over 20 years) to rank all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. The report generally doesn’t seem to have too many drastic changes; there were some in 2023 when Japan lost its number one spot and Singapore took the lead. The city-state continues to hold the lead spot and even after losing access to two countries. It currently offers entrance to 193 travel destinations out of 227 around the world without visas.
Japan and South Korea are sharing second place with each granting their citizens access to 190 destinations visa-free. Seven EU passports share third place: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain (all offer access to 189 destinations). Fourth place is also tied by seven EU nations including: Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden (188 destinations). New Zealand and Switzerland have tied for fifth place.
The United Kingdom and the United States have each dropped further since January as part of a long-term decline. 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 and the US is at 182. Notably, the US is almost out of the Top 10 for the first time in the index’ 20-year history.
The United Arab Emirates continues to rise at an impressive pace. It went up 34 places over the last 10 years from 42nd to eighth place. Another notable improvement goes to China it also went up 34 places from 94th to 60th since 2015. This is particularly impressive considering that China has not yet gained visa-free access to Europe’s Schengen Area. At the other end of the spectrum, Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the rankings with access to only 25 destinations without a prior visa.
Dr. Christian H. Kaelin , the inventor of the passport index, said:
Traditional mobility champions are losing ground in an increasingly multi-polar world. As emerging economies liberalize their visa regimes and invest in diplomatic capital, legacy powers like the UK and the US appear to be retreating behind more restrictive entry policies.”
Anthony’s Take: Visa-free travel makes trips so much easier. While the US continues to fall, a US passport is still a powerful document that opens many doors to the world.
(Image Credits: nicole-geriRawpixel and Mike Enerio.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
