2025’s most powerful passports: Which country ranks first?
The 2025 Henley & Partners Passport Index reveals the world’s most powerful passports. Find out which country tops the list.
Henley & Partners has unveiled the 2025 passport index, naming Singapore the world’s most powerful passport, granting its citizens visa-free access to 195 of 227 destinations globally.
Japan ranked second for most powerful, with its citizens able to visit 193 visa-free travel destinations out of 227 around the world.
Each year, Henley & Partners releases their Passport Index, which essentially ranks the travel documents from all the different countries in the world and determines their power.
By ‘power’, the index refers to the ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.
According to the factsheet:
“the index’s scoring system was developed to give users a practical, and reliable overview of their passport’s power. Each passport is scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free. For each travel destination, if no visa is required, then a score of 1 is allocated for that passport. This also applies if passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) upon entry.”
South Africa’s passport now comes in at number 48, up from number 52 last year.
According to this position, South African passport holders can travel to 106 countries visa-free.
TOP FIVE COUNTRIES ON THE LIST
According to the latest rankings, here are the most powerful passports in the world:
| Rank | Country | Number of visa-free countries |
| 1 | Singapore | 195 |
| 2 | Japan | 193 |
| 3 | Finland | 192 |
| 3 | France | 192 |
| 3 | Germany | 192 |
| 3 | Italy | 192 |
| 3 | South Korea | 192 |
| 3 | Spain | 192 |
| 4 | Austria | 191 |
| 4 | Denmark | 191 |
| 4 | Ireland | 191 |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 191 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 191 |
| 4 | Norway | 191 |
| 4 | Sweden | 191 |
| 5 | Belgium | 190 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 190 |
| 5 | Portugal | 190 |
| 5 | Switzerland | 190 |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 190 |