The top 10 most powerful passports in the Middle East

The latest Henley & Partners Passport Index for 2024 shows the top 10 most powerful passports in the Middle East from 199 different countries and 227 different travel destinations, ranking them quarterly in terms of travel power.

Each passport was scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free.

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South Africa placed 97th out of 199 countries with a visa-free score of 108.

That means there are 108 countries across the world that a South African passport holder can travel to visa-free.

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Meanwhile, the index found that the France, Germany, Italy and Spain passports were the most powerful with a visa-free score of 194, followed by Netherlands with 192.

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Singapore fell to third with 194.

Afghanistan still sits at the bottom of the list with a score of 28.

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THE 108 COUNTRIES THAT SOUTH AFRICAN PASSPORT HOLDERS CAN VISIT VISA-FREE PER REGION:

Africa – 35

Americas – 18

Asia – 17

Caribbean – 16

Europe – 4

Middle East – 8

Oceania – 10

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MOST POWERFUL PASSPORTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

According to the Henley Passport Power Index, these ten countries ranked as the most powerful passports in the Middle East alone:

1. Israel
2. United Arab Emirates
3. Cyprus
4. Qatar
5. Türkiye
6. Saudi Arabia
7. Kuwait
8. Oman
9. Bahrain
10. Jordan

Israel came first in the Middle East with a ranking of 33 and a visa-free score of 166.

United Arab Emirates took the next spot with a ranking of 34 and a visa-free score of 183.

Cyprus ranked as the third most powerful passport in the Middle East with a ranking of 49 and a visa-free score of 182.