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Singapore has the most powerful passport in the world, according to the 2025 Henley Passport Index.
The nation-state was one of six countries that tied for first place in 2024 on the list drawn up by migration consultancy Henley & Partners, which classifies passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without needing visa.
Singapore surpassed the other five countries – Japan, Germany, Italy, Spain and France – with its citizens gaining visa-free access to 195 of 227 global destinations, according to the ranking released on Wednesday.
Japan takes the No. 2 spot, with visa-free access to 193 locations, while the four European countries that tied for first place last year, plus Finland and South Korea, share third place, each giving passport holders the possibility of visiting 192 destinations without the need for a visa.
Countries in Europe, plus New Zealand, dominate the rest of the top 20 list.
He Henley Passport Index uses data from the International Air Transport Association to classify 199 passports in the world.
“Visa-free,” according to the index, includes situations where no visa is required, or where easier-to-obtain entry documents are required, such as visas on arrival, visitor permits and electronic travel authorities.
Climbers and falls
The United Arab Emirates is one of the “biggest climbers” on the list, according to a press release, having gained visa-free access to 72 destinations in the last decade, for a total of 185 destinations worldwide.
It is just behind the United States, whose citizens can visit 186 places without needing a visa, according to the ranking.
The United States is one of 22 places where passports fell on the index in the last 10 years, he said.
“Surprisingly, the United States is the second biggest drop between 2015 and 2025 after Venezuela, falling seven places from 2nd to the current 9th place,” the statement said.
Passports from the United Kingdom (which topped the list in 2015) and Canada also fell, he said.
China rose in the rankings to reach 60th place in 2025. Its openness to other countries has also increased considerably: China now allows citizens of 58 destinations to visit visa-free (half of which were added last year), according to the Henley Opening Index.
At the end of the list
Afghanistan is again considered to have the weakest passport on the list. It ranked last for granting access to only 26 of 227 destinations. Its citizens can visit places such as Cambodia, Maldives, Djibouti, Sri Lanka and Haiti without needing to obtain a visa.
The gap between the strongest and weakest passports on the list is the largest in the index’s 19-year history, according to Henley & Partners. Singaporeans can visit 169 more places than Afghans without needing a visa, he says.
After Afghanistan, the weakest passports on the list are those of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, Nepal, the Palestinian territories, Libya and Bangladesh, all below North Korea, whose citizens can visit 41 destinations in everyone, according to the classification.
