What Is the Most Powerful Passport in the World?

Singapore has been recrowned as the world’s most powerful passport. But what does that really mean—and how does yours stack up?

The most frequently cited passport ranking is the Henley Passport Index, compiled by consultancy firm Henley & Partners. It’s based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). According to this data, the primary deciding factor in determining how “powerful” a passport is is how many countries are accessible and visa-free for a nation’s citizens.

Singapore passport holders can travel visa-free to a total of 195 locations, more than any other nation. Close behind, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain are tied at second place with visa-free access to 192 destinations globally.

In September 2024, Denmark gained visa-free access to China, bumping it up to third place alongside Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden. These countries enjoy travel to 191 destinations without a visa. Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, and Norway will also soon be granted visa-free access to China, which will increase their respective scores by one point.

While the 35 nations within the top 10 ranking don’t often see dramatic changes, “there are only 16 passports with a rank between 11 and 20, making it a more dynamic group as they fight towards a place in the top ten,” Dominic Volek, Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, tells Condé Nast Traveler. “Malaysia, Argentina, and Hong Kong have all gone up one point in the ranking since July.”

He adds: “The trend towards increased openness continues with more passports gaining access than losing it.”

US passport holders currently have visa-free access to 186 countries, putting them in eighth place. (Pro tip: Americans can also travel to these US territories without a passport). Across the pond, UK passport holders remain in fourth place, although their visa-free destination score recently dropped to 190 from 191. It has been a decade since the UK and the US jointly held first place on the index in 2014.

Global mobility trends for 2024

Commenting on the July 2024 edition of the Henley Global Mobility Report 2024, Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, shared that the global mobility gap is growing exponentially. “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,” he said. “However, 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.”

But how does a nation gain visa-free access to a new destination? In September 2024, “a number of the latest visa agreements we have seen were made on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly,” Volek tells Traveler. The recent international agreements show “visa access is being used as a key diplomatic tool to strengthen ties between countries,” he explains.

Here are the world’s most powerful passports for 2024:

Singapore (195 locations)
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain (192 locations)
Denmark, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden (191 locations)
Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom (190 locations)
Australia, Portugal (189 locations)
Greece, Poland (188 locations)
Canada, Czechia, Hungary, Malta (187 locations)
United States (186 locations)
Estonia, Lithuania, United Arab Emirates (185 locations)
Iceland, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (184 locations)
Croatia, Malaysia (183 locations)
Liechtenstein (182 locations)
Cyprus, Monaco (178 locations)
Bulgaria, Romania (177 locations)
Chile (176 locations)
San Marino, Argentina (172 locations)
Andorra, Brazil, Hong Kong (171 locations)
Israel (170 locations)
Brunei (166 locations)
Barbados (165 locations)