These Are the Most Powerful Passports in the World for 2025 — and the Least

Singapore has the most powerful passport in the world for 2025, claiming the top spot with more easy access than any other country.

The Southeast Asian country boasts visa-free access to 195 different destinations around the globe, taking the highest spot on the latest Henley Passport Index. The ranking was a feat since Singapore had to share the top spot with five other countries last year.

Japan took the runner-up spot this year with visa-free access to 193 destinations, followed by a six-way tie for third place with France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Finland, and South Korea each having visa-free access to 192 destinations. 

The United States came in at No. 9 on the list with Americans enjoying visa-free travel to 186 destinations around the world. However, that’s a drop from the country’s 7th place spot last year and a significant fall from its 2nd place showing 10 years ago, according to the index.

“Even before the advent of a second Trump presidency, American political trends had become notably inward-looking and isolationist,” Annie Pforzheimer, a senior associate at the Washington thinktank the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a statement, adding policies like “tariffs and deportations” will likely lead to continuing “to decline on the mobility index on a comparative basis.”

On the other end of the spectrum is Afghanistan, which once again came in last on the list with the most restrictive passport. Travelers from the country have visa-free access to just 26 destinations. That was followed by Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Pakistan.

“The very notion of citizenship and its birthright lottery needs a fundamental rethink as temperatures rise, natural disasters become more frequent and severe, displacing communities and rendering their environments uninhabitable,” Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, the chairman of Henley & Partners, said in a statement.

The passport index ranks the world’s 199 passports by their access to travel without having to first obtain a visa and is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The good news for travelers hoping to add a second passport to their repertoire is there are several countries that offer citizenship either by investment or if the applicant has a grandparent or even great-grandparent originally from there.