What is red on the outside and purple on the inside, allowing you to enter 195 countries in the world without a visa? It's the Singaporean passport, which has been ranked as the strongest travel document in the world. For the past 19 years, the "Henley Passport Index," created by the London-based global consultancy "Henley & Partners," has tracked global freedoms in 227 countries and regions, using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The passports that closely follow Singapore in the global ranking are those of Japan, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, which all rank jointly in second place, allowing their citizens to enjoy visa-free travel to 192 destinations. In third place are South Korea, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, all enjoying seamless travel to 191 destinations.
The United Kingdom, which shared first place with the United States in 2014, ranks fourth (190 destinations), along with New Zealand, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, and Switzerland. Australia and Portugal share fifth place (189 destinations), while the United States has fallen to eighth place, with visa-free access to only 186 destinations.
Afghanistan has long been ranked as having the weakest passport in the world, and its citizens can now travel to only 26 countries without a visa, marking the lowest recorded level in the history of the index for nearly two decades. Christian Kaelin, the chairman of Henley & Partners, stated, "The average number of global destinations accessible to travelers without a visa has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024. However, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than ever."
Estimates from the International Air Transport Association suggest that around 5 billion people will travel by air this year across 39 million flights. However, Willie Walsh, the director general of the International Air Transport Association, states that the real cost of air travel has fallen by more than a third over that time, with the average profit per passenger for airlines now exceeding $6, which "barely covers a cup of espresso at a typical hotel café."
Africa's richest man, Nigerian Aliko Dangote, complained at a recent African CEOs forum in Kigali that he needs 35 visas to travel around the continent, a significantly higher number than a European visitor. Henley & Partners published a report yesterday comparing Schengen visa rejection rates for African applicants with those from other regions.
The findings from Mahari Tadil Maru, an assistant professor at the College of Governance at the European University Institute and Johns Hopkins University in Italy, indicate that about 30% of African applicants for the Schengen visa were rejected, compared to around 10% globally. Maru stated, "The European visa system clearly shows a pre-existing bias against African applicants who face a triple hit: low passport power, high visa rejection rates, and thus limited economic mobility."
The following are the strongest passports in the world for this year:
1. Singapore (195 destinations)
2. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain (192)
3. Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden (191)
4. Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom (190)
5. Australia, Portugal (189)
6. Greece, Poland (188)
7. Canada, Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta (187)
8. United States (186)
9. Estonia, Lithuania, United Arab Emirates (185)
10. Iceland, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (184)
