The most potent passport in the world for 2025 has been formally announced.
The Henley Passport Index was created in 2005 by the investment firm Henley Global. It rates 199 countries based on how many places their passport holders may visit without obtaining a visa.
The Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index was the name of the company before it changed its name in January 2018.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) gave us the information we needed to make the rankings. They only look at regular passports, not diplomatic or emergency credentials.
Singapore boasts the best passport in the world. Its red travel document lets you visit 193 places without a visa, making it the easiest passport to travel with.
The UK passport, which lets users travel to 186 countries without a visa, has slid again and is now in sixth place. That’s another drop from fifth place at the start of the year and fourth place in 2024.
The US passport has also been affected. The American passport lets you travel to 182 places and is now tied for 10th place with Iceland and Lithuania. That means it has dropped eight places since it was number one ten years ago.
Only 16 passports have lost power in the past ten years. The US dropped 15 spots, and Venezuela declined 15 spots.
With 190 visa-free destinations, South Korea and Japan are equal for second position this year. Third rank is shared by Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. There are 189 destinations accessible from each of these nations.
Saudi Arabia moved up four points to 54th place, which was the highest change on the index. Now, its people can go to 91 places without a visa.
Afghanistan still has the weakest passport at the bottom of the list. It only lets you travel to 25 countries without a visa.
Dr. Juerg Steffen, the CEO of Henley & Partners, said this about the most recent index results: According to The Independent, your passport is no longer only a travel document; it also shows how powerful your country is diplomatically and how well it gets along with other countries.
He also said that as the US and UK get more focused on their own problems, more and more people from those countries are looking for more global access and safety.
According to Metro, he stated that in an era of growing inequality and geopolitical unpredictability, strategic mobility and citizenship planning are more crucial than ever.