Singapore Passport Most Powerful Globally

Singapore holds the crown as the world’s most powerful passport, with visa-free access to 193 destinations out of 227 globally, according to the latest Henley Passport Index, which was released on Tuesday.

The index is powered by exclusive Timatic data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and ranks all the world’s passports based on the number of destinations their holders can enter without a prior visa.

The UAE continues to be a standout among the top risers, shooting up 34 places over the last 10 years – from 42^nd to 8^th place, making it the only big riser to break into the Top 10 in the ranking, the Index showed.

Asian nations continue to lead the global mobility race, with Japan and South Korea sharing second place, each granting their citizens access to 190 destinations visa-free. Seven EU passports — Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain – share third place, all with access to 189 destinations.

Another seven-nation European cohort — Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden — with visa-free entry to 188 destinations, share the fourth place while New Zealand, the only nation to challenge the regional dominance, is with Greece and Switzerland in the fifth place.

At the other end of the global mobility spectrum, Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the ranking, with its citizens able to access just 25 destinations without a prior visa — a staggering mobility gap of 168 destinations between the top- and bottom-ranked passports.

Biggest Risers and Fallers

The UK and US have each dropped a place in the global passport rankings since January, continuing a long-term downward trend. Once the most powerful passports in the world — the UK in 2015 and the US in 2014 — they now rank 6^th and 10^th, respectively.

The UK currently has visa-free access to 186 destinations, while the US trails with 182. Notably, the US is now on the brink of exiting the Top 10 altogether for the first time in the index’s 20-year history.

India has recorded the largest jump in ranking over the past six months, climbing eight places from 85^th to 77^th, despite only adding two destinations to its visa-free tally, now at 59. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has made the biggest gain in visa-free access, adding four destinations since January. Its total now stands at 91, lifting the kingdom four places to 54^th.

Over the past decade, more than 80 passports have climbed at least 10 places, and the global average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2025.

Another notable winner is China, also rising 34 places from 94^th to 60^th since 2015 — particularly impressive considering that, unlike other top risers, China has not yet gained visa-free access to Europe’s Schengen Area.

Notable additions to China’s visa-free list in 2025 include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia — which means that citizens of all Gulf Cooperation Council countries can travel to China with no prior visa — as well as several South American nations including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay.

China’s granting of visa-free access to several European states over the past two years has also contributed to the dominance of European passports at the top of the Henley Passport Power Index, which measures the percentage of global GDP each passport provides to its holders’ visa-free.

Air Travel demand Up

IATA’s Director General Willie Walsh said that overall demand for air travel showed strong 5.8% growth over the first five months of 2025, with some regional variations.

“Asia-Pacific airlines led the way with 9.5% growth. In North America, international traffic grew by 1.8%, but this was offset by a 1% contraction in the domestic market, leaving demand effectively flat over the period. Importantly, despite economic and geopolitical uncertainties, consumer confidence appears to be strong, with robust forward bookings for the peak Northern summer travel season giving good reason for optimism,” he said.

Looking at the past decade, with so many passports gaining power and rising on the Henley Passport Index, only 16 have fallen in rank. The biggest faller is Venezuela, which plunged 15 places from 30th to 45th, followed the US (down 8 places), Vanuatu (-6 places), the UK (-5 places), and Canada (-4 places).