The Henley Passport Index is an annual global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom allowed by those countries' ordinary passports for their citizens. The index was created by Christian Kälin and launched in 2005 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index. Its name was changed to Henley Passport Index in January 2018.Andrejevic, Mark and Volcic, Zala (2016). Commercial Nationalism: Selling the Nation and Nationalizing the Sell. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. The index is updated on a quarterly basis to reflect changes in global visa policies.
The index annually ranks 199 passports of the world by the number of countries that their holders can travel to without requiring a visa. The number of countries that a specific passport can access becomes its visa-free "score". The data is obtained from the International Air Transport Association (IATA)'s Timatic documentation requirements database.Abrahamian, Atossa Araxia (2015). The Cosmopolites: The Coming of the Global Citizen, pp. 70–93. Colombia Global Reports, New York.
Definition of the index The Henley Passport index ranks passports according to the number of destinations that can be reached using a particular country's ordinary passport without the need of a prior visa ("visa-free"). The survey ranks 199 passports against 227 destination countries, territories, and micro-states.
The IATA maintains a database of travel information worldwide and all destinations that are in the IATA database are considered by the index. However, because not all territories issue passports, there are far fewer passports ranked than destinations about which queries are made.
Method To determine the score for each country or territory, its passport is checked against the IATA Timatic database in several steps:
Each of the 199 passports on the list is checked against all 227 possible travel destinations for which travel restriction information exists in the IATA database. The score is updated throughout the year. Each query must satisfy certain conditions: passport is issued in the country of nationality passport holder is an adult citizen of the country that issued the passport and a lone traveller, not part of a tourist group entry is sought for tourism or business the stay is a minimum of three days Further conditions: queries are made only for holders of normal passports, not diplomatic, service, emergency, or temporary passports; and other travel documents are disregarded passport holders need not meet any complex requirements for entry (for example, possessing a government-issued letter, translations, or empty pages) passport holders have all necessary vaccinations and certificates passport holders are arriving at and departing from the same airport passport holders are seeking a short stay rather than a transit the port of entry is a major city or capital, in cases where this is required requirements by the destination country or territory regarding a particular length of validity of passports are disregarded passport holders meet all basic requirements for entry (for example, holding a hotel reservation or having proof of sufficient funds or return tickets) advance passenger information and advance approval to board are not considered to be a visa requirement or travel restriction, neither is the requirement to pay airport tax If no visa is required for passport holders from a particular country or territory to enter the destination, then that passport scores 1. The passport also scores 1 if a visa on arrival, a visitor's permit, or an automatically approved electronic travel authority (ETA) can be obtained because they do not require manual pre-departure government approval, perhaps because of specific visa-waiver programs in place. Where visas are needed, or where passport holders must get manually government-approved electronic visas (e-Visas) before departure, a score of 0 is given. If passport holders must get government approval before leaving in order to obtain a visa on arrival, this also scores 0. The score for each passport is then totalled by adding up its scores for all destinations. The index ignores temporary restrictions or airspace closures. It considers mobility data based on national GDPs and the percentage of global wealth that the country's passport could provide access to.
Rankings
2026 Henley Passport Index
According to 2026 Henley Passport Index, Singapore retains the top spot as the world's most powerful passport, giving visa-free access to 192 out of the 227 destinations worldwide to its holders. Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates are second in the ranking. The UAE passport has moved up the ranking by eight places making it the first in the Middle East.
The third spot is taken by Sweden. The Afghan passport is ranked last in the index making it the least powerful passport, which gives its holders visa-free access to 23 countries. The South African passport is ranked in the top 50 after a decade, rising by 10% between 2024 and 2025.
Seychelles and Mauritius retained their positions in the index as Africa’s highest ranked passports. Seychelles, which was ranked at 23rd offers visa-free access to 155 destinations and Mauritius ranked at 26 gives access to 148 destinations.
The United States passport has seen a decline in its ranking over the last 20 years. In 2006, the USA passport was ranked the number 1 passport, along with Finland and Denmark. The ranking has dropped to the 10th spot in the 2026 report, with 36 other countries offering greater visa-free mobility than the US passport.
According to the index, the mobility gap between the top and least ranked passport has widened sharply over the last 20 years.
2026rankPassport issuing countryVisa-freedestinations 1 192 2 187 187 187 3 186 4 185 185 185 185 185 185 185 185 185 185 185 185 5 184 184 184 184 6 183 183 183 183 7 182 182 182 182 182 182 182 8 181 181 9 180 180 10 179 179 11 177 177 12 176 13 174 174 174 14 169 15 168 168 16 166 166 17 163 163 18 158 19 157 157 20 156 21 155 22 154 154 23 151 24 148 25 147 147 147 26 145 145 145 27 144 28 142 29 141 141 30 135 31 134 32 132 132 33 131 34 130 35 129 129 36 127 127 37 126 126 38 125 125 39 122 40 121 121 41 120 120 120 42 119 43 116 44 113 113 45 111 46 100 100 47 96 48 93 49 92 92 50 88 51 87 87 87 87 52 86 53 85 54 84 84 55 82 56 81 81 57 78 58 77 77 59 76 60 75 61 74 62 73 63 71 71 71 64 70 70 65 69 66 68 68 67 67 67 68 66 66 69 65 65 65 70 64 64 64 71 63 72 62 73 61 74 59 59 59 75 58 76 57 77 56 56 56 56 78 55 55 55 55 55 79 54 80 53 53 81 52 52 82 51 83 50 50 84 49 49 49 49 85 48 48 48 48 86 47 47 47 87 46 88 45 45 45 89 44 90 43 43 91 42 42 92 41 41 93 39 39 94 38 38 38 97 34 96 35 35 97 32 98 31 31 99 29 100 26 101 23
2024 Henley Passport Index As of 16 July 2024, the Singaporean passport offers holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 195 countries and territories, followed by the Japanese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish passports offer holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 193 countries followed by the Austrian, Finnish, Irish, Luxembourgish, Dutch, South Korean and Swedish passports, each offering 192 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to its holders. These rankings were subsequently followed by the Belgian, Danish, New Zealand, Norwegian, Swiss, and British passports, each offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 191 countries and territories. While the 2024 Henley Passport Index shows a worldwide improvement in access to visa-free travel, the gap between the top and the bottom ranked countries has widened.
Asian countries like Japan and Singapore have dominated the top position in the Index for the last five years.
The Afghan passport has once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 28 destinations visa-free. This was followed by the Syrian passport at 29 destinations, the Iraqi passport at 31 destinations and the Pakistani and Yemeni passports at 34 destinations. Among African countries, the Somali passport is the weakest passport according to the index.
+2024rankPassport issuing countryVisa-freedestinations 1 195 2 193 193 193 193 193 3 192 192 192 192 192 192 192 4 191 191 191 191 191 191 5 190 190 190 6 188 188 7 187 187 187 8 186 9 185 185 185 10 184 184 184 184 11 183 12 182 182 13 178 178 14 177 177 15 175 16 172 172 17 171 171 18 170 170 19 166 20 165 21 161 22 159 23 157 157 157 24 156 25 155 26 153 27 151 151 28 150 29 149 30 148 148 31 147 147 32 143 143 33 141 141 34 140 35 136 36 135 37 134 134 38 133 39 131 131 40 129 41 128 128 128 128 42 124 124 124 124 43 123 123 44 122 122 45 116 116 46 107 47 106 48 102 49 101 50 97 51 95 52 94 53 92 54 90 55 89 89 89 56 88 88 57 87 58 86 59 85 85 60 82 61 81 81 62 80 63 79 79 79 79 64 77 65 76 66 75 75 75 67 73 68 72 69 71 71 70 70 70 71 69 69 72 68 68 73 67 74 66 75 65 65 76 64 64 64 64 77 63 78 62 62 79 61 80 60 60 60 81 59 59 82 58 58 58 83 57 57 57 84 55 55 55 55 85 54 86 53 53 53 53 87 52 52 52 88 51 51 89 50 50 50 50 90 49 49 91 46 46 92 45 45 45 93 44 44 94 43 43 95 42 96 41 97 40 40 98 39 39 99 35 100 33 33 101 31 102 29 103 26
2023 As of 8 December 2023, the Singaporean passport offered holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 195 countries and territories, followed by the Japanese with 193 and the Finnish, French, German, Italian, South Korean, Spanish and Swedish passports, each offering 190 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to its holders. These rankings were subsequently followed by the Austrian, Danish, Luxembourgeois and British passports, each offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 189 countries and territories.
An Afghan passport had once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 27 destinations visa-free. This was followed by the Iraqi passport at 29 destinations and the Syrian passport at 30 destinations.
+2023rankPassport issuing countryVisa-freedestinations1 1932 1923 190 190 190 190 190 190 190 1904 189 189 189 189 189 5 188 188 188 1886 187 187 187 1877 186 186 186 186 1868 1859 184 184 18410 18311 182 18213 180 18014 17915 177 177 16 176 176 17 175 18 173 19 172 20 171 19 170 170 20 166 21 16322 159 159 23 15624 155 15525 154 15426 15327 151 28 150 15029 148 30 147 147 15031 144 144 14432 143 143 33 13634 13735 13636 134 37 132 132 132 13238 13139 130 40 127 127 12741 12542 124 44 123 12345 12246 12047 119 48 119 49 11651 118 52 112 53 104 54 103 55 102 56 101 57 98 58 94 59 9260 91 61 8962 8863 87 8764 86 8665 83 66 82 82 67 80 80 68 79 69 78 78 78 70 7771 7672 75 75 73 74 74 73 75 7276 71 70 7077 69 69 6978 67 79 66 66 80 65 65 65 65 81 63 6382 62 83 61 61 61 84 60 60 85 59 59 5986 58 87 57 88 56 56 56 89 55 55 55 55 90 54 54 54 91 53 53 53 5392 52 52 52 52 52 52 93 50 50 50 50 94 49 49 95 48 48 96 47 97 46 98 45 45 45 99 44 100 42 42101 41102 40 40 40 103 39104 38 105 36 106 35 107 34 108 33 109 30 110 29 111 27
2022
As of 2022, a Japanese passport offered its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 193 countries and territories, with South Korean and Singapore passports each offering 192 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to their holders. An American passport offered its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 186 countries and territories, with the British passport offering 187 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to their holders. Canadian and Australian passports each offered their holders visa-free access to 185 countries and territories.
An Afghan passport had once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 27 destinations visa-free.