Henley Passport Index

The Henley Passport index ranks passports according to the number of destinations that can be reached using a particular country's ordinary passport without the need of a prior visa ("visa-free").{{cite news |last1=Dannielle Maguire |title=Australian passports are among the world's most powerful. So where can it take you? |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-15/worlds-most-powerful-passport-australia-visa-free-travel/101847344 |work=ABC News |date=15 January 2023 |language=en-AU}}{{cite news |last1=Gleeson |first1=Colin |date=July 19, 2022 |title=Irish passport ranked joint sixth most powerful globally |language=en |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2022/07/19/irish-passport-ranked-sixth-most-powerful-globally/ |access-date=28 August 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Kelleher |first1=Suzanne Rowan |title=U.S Passport Is The 44th Most Powerful In The World, Per New Index |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2024/03/06/us-passport-ranks-44th-most-powerful-in-the-world-per-new-index/ |website=Forbes |language=en}} The survey ranks 199 passports against 227 destination{{cite web |last1=Fernandez |first1=Celia |title=Japan has the No. 1 most powerful passport in the world for 2023—see where the U.S. lands on the list |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/19/most-powerful-passports-henley-passport-index.html |website=CNBC |date=19 January 2023 |language=en}} countries, territories, and micro-states.{{cite news |title=How powerful is the Indian passport? Check out Henley Index ranking |url=https://www.zeebiz.com/india/news-how-powerful-is-the-indian-passport-check-out-henley-index-ranking-48157 |access-date=28 August 2022 |work=Zee Business |date=22 May 2018}}{{cite news |last1=McDonagh |first1=Shannon |title=These are the world's most powerful passports in 2022 |url=https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/01/31/this-country-will-have-the-most-valuable-passport-in-our-post-pandemic-world |access-date=28 August 2022 |work=Euronews |date=31 January 2022 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Neammanee |first1=Pocharapon |title=The Most Powerful Passports in the World in 2022, Ranked |url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/lifestyle/the-most-powerful-passports-in-the-world-in-2022-ranked/432160 |work=Entrepreneur magazine |date=28 July 2022 |language=en}}

The IATA maintains a database of travel information worldwide and all destinations that are in the IATA database are considered by the index.{{cite news |title=Pakistani passport remains fourth-worst in the world: Henley index |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1700669 |work=Dawn (newspaper) |date=20 July 2022 |language=en}} However, because not all territories issue passports, there are far fewer passports ranked than destinations about which queries are made.{{cite book|last1=Kalin|first1=Christian H.|title=Global Residence and Citizenship Handbook|year=2015|publisher=Ideos Publications|isbn=978-3-9524052-7-7|pages=147–148|edition=5}}

To determine the score for each country or territory,{{cite book|last1=Kalin|first1=Christian H.|title=Global Residence and Citizenship Handbook|year=2015|publisher=Ideos Publications|isbn=978-3-9524052-7-7|pages=148–149|edition=5}} its passport is checked against the IATA Timatic database in several steps:

1. Each of the 199 passports on the list is checked against all 227 possible travel destinations for which travel restriction information exists in the IATA database. The score is updated throughout the year.
2. Each query must satisfy certain conditions:
3. * passport is issued in the country of nationality
4. * passport holder is an adult citizen of the country that issued the passport and a lone traveller, not part of a tourist group
5. * entry is sought for tourism or business
6. * the stay is a minimum of three days
7. Further conditions:
8. * queries are made only for holders of normal passports, not diplomatic, service, emergency, or temporary passports; and other travel documents are disregarded
9. * passport holders need not meet any complex requirements for entry (for example, possessing a government-issued letter, translations, or empty pages)
10. * passport holders have all necessary vaccinations and certificates
11. * passport holders are arriving at and departing from the same airport
12. * passport holders are seeking a short stay rather than a transit
13. * the port of entry is a major city or capital, in cases where this is required
14. * requirements by the destination country or territory regarding a particular length of validity of passports are disregarded
15. * passport holders meet all basic requirements for entry (for example, holding a hotel reservation or having proof of sufficient funds or return tickets)
16. * advance passenger information and advance approval to board are not considered to be a visa requirement or travel restriction, neither is the requirement to pay airport tax
17. If no visa is required for passport holders from a particular country or territory to enter the destination, then that passport scores 1. The passport also scores 1 if a visa on arrival, a visitor's permit, or an automatically approved electronic travel authority (ETA) can be obtained because they do not require manual pre-departure government approval, perhaps because of specific visa-waiver programs in place.
18. Where visas are needed, or where passport holders must get manually government-approved electronic visas (e-Visas) before departure, a score of 0 is given. If passport holders must get government approval before leaving in order to obtain a visa on arrival, this also scores 0.
19. The score for each passport is then totalled by adding up its scores for all destinations.{{cite web |title=Henley Passport Index 2006 to 2018 |url=https://www.henleypassportindex.com/methodology |website=Henley & Partners Passport Index |publisher=Henley & Partners Holdings Ltd |access-date=7 July 2018 |quote=The index and its contents are based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and supplemented, enhanced, and updated using extensive in-house research and open-source online data.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709232312/https://www.henleypassportindex.com/methodology |archive-date=9 July 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}
20. The index ignores temporary restrictions or airspace closures.{{cite news |last1=O'Hare |first1=Maureen |date=July 19, 2022 |title=The world's most powerful passports for 2022 |language=en |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/henley-index-world-best-passport-q3-2022/index.html}}
21. It considers mobility data based on national GDPs and the percentage of global wealth that the country's passport could provide access to.{{cite web |last1=Klawans |first1=Justin |title=10 of the world's most powerful passports |url=https://theweek.com/world/1023561/10-of-the-worlds-most-powerful-passports |website=The Week |date=18 May 2023 |language=en}}

According to 2025 Henley Passport Index, Singapore retains the top spot as the world’s most powerful passport, giving visa-free access to 195 out of the 227 destinations worldwide to its holders.{{cite news |title=The world's most (and least) powerful passports in 2025 — and how Australia compares |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-worlds-most-and-least-powerful-passports-in-2025-and-how-australia-compares/u6d7qbcrw |work=SBS News |date=9 January 2025 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Pitrelli |first1=Monica |title=The world's most powerful passport has a clear winner this year — in 2024 it was a six-way tie |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/09/what-is-the-most-powerful-passport-in-the-world-its-singapore-again.html |work=CNBC |date=9 January 2025 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=O'Hare |first1=Maureen |title=The world’s most powerful passports for 2025 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/08/travel/worlds-most-powerful-passports-for-2025/index.html |work=CNN |date=8 January 2025 |language=en}} Japan is second in the ranking, while the third spot is shared by France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The Afghan passport is ranked last in the index making it the least powerful passport, which gives its holders visa-free access to 26 countries.{{cite news |last1=Kelleher |first1=Suzanne Rowan |title=U.S. Drops To No. 9 In World’s Most Powerful Passport Index |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/01/08/worlds-most-powerful-passport-2025/ |work=Forbes |language=en}} The South African passport is ranked in the top 50 after a decade, rising by 10% between 2024 and 2025.{{cite news |last1=Agbetiloye |first1=Adekunle |title=Top 10 African countries that hold the most powerful passport |url=https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/top-10-african-countries-that-hold-the-most-powerful-passport/rwdxm9z |work=Business Insider |date=9 August 2024 |language=en}}

As of 16 July 2024, the Singaporean passport offers holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 195 countries and territories, followed by the Japanese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish passports offer holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 192 countries followed by the Austrian, Finnish, Irish, Luxembourgish, Dutch, South Korean and Swedish passports, each offering 191 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to its holders.{{cite web |title=Most powerful passports for 2024 and di weakest according to Henley & Partners report |url=https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c25yyrw3lz9o |website=BBC |date=12 January 2024}} These rankings were subsequently followed by the Belgian, Danish, New Zealand, Norwegian, Swiss, and British passports, each offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 190 countries and territories.{{cite web |title=World's Most Powerful Passport Rankings [2024] |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/explainers/worlds-most-powerful-passport-rankings/86811/1 |website=Forbes India |language=en}} While the 2024 Henley Passport Index shows a worldwide improvement in access to visa-free travel, the gap between the top and the bottom ranked countries has widened.{{cite news |title=These are the world's most powerful passports in 2024. See where Australia sits |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-23/henley-passport-index-2024/104134050 |work=ABC News |date=23 July 2024 |language=en-AU}}

Asian countries like Japan and Singapore have dominated the top position in the Index for the last five years.{{cite web |last1=O'Hare |first1=Maureen |title=The world's most powerful passports for 2024 |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/most-powerful-passports-for-2024/index.html |website=CNN |language=en |date=10 January 2024}}

The Afghan passport has once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 28 destinations visa-free.{{cite news |title=Italy's New Luxury Hotels, The Most Powerful Passports, Delta's Free Wifi And More |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/passport/2023/01/13/italys-new-luxury-hotels-the-most-powerful-passports-deltas-free-wifi-and-more/?sh=12a180e16d47 |work=Forbes |language=en}}{{cite news |date=10 January 2023 |title=Henley Passport Index: World most powerful passports ranking for 2023 |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c3gn7qd8ezno}} This was followed by the Syrian passport at 29 destinations, the Iraqi passport at 31 destinations and the Pakistani and Yemini passports at 34 destinations. Among African countries, the Somali passport is the weakest passport according to the index.{{cite web |last1=Okafor |first1=Chinedu |title=10 African countries with the weakest passports mid-way into 2024 |url=https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/10-african-countries-with-the-weakest-passports-mid-way-into-2024/ntd5zzf |website=Business Insider |language=en |date=6 June 2024}}

As of 8 December 2023, the Singaporean passport offered holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 195 countries{{cite news |last1=Lawler |first1=Opheli Garcia |title=The U.S. Continues to Slide Down the International Passport Power Rankings |url=https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/us-passport-drops-spot-henley-passport-index |work=Thrillist |date=18 July 2023 |language=en}} and territories,{{cite news |last1=Shan |first1=Lee Ying |title=Singapore's passport is now the most powerful in the world. Here's how other countries ranked |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/19/henley-passport-index-2023-singapore-germany-italy-spain-rank-top-.html |work=CNBC |date=19 July 2023 |language=en}} followed by the Japanese with 193 and the Finnish, French, German, Italian, South Korean, Spanish and Swedish passports, each offering 190 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to its holders. These rankings were subsequently followed by the Austrian, Danish, Luxembourgeois and British passports, each offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 189 countries and territories.

An Afghan passport had once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 27 destinations visa-free. This was followed by the Iraqi passport at 29 destinations and the Syrian passport at 30 destinations.{{cite news |date=19 July 2023 |title=Henley Passport Index:The World's Most Powerful Passports in 2023|url=https://www.handyvisas.com/articles/strongest-passport-in-the-world}}

As of 2022, a Japanese passport offered its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 193 countries and territories, with South Korean and Singapore passports each offering 192 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to their holders.{{cite news |last1=Whitley |first1=Angus |title=Europe once offered the world's most powerful passports. Not anymore |url=https://fortune.com/2022/07/20/worlds-most-powerful-passports-japan-south-korea-singapore-europe-us/ |access-date=28 August 2022 |work=Fortune |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=The World's Most Powerful Passports in 2022|website=OnlineVisa|url=https://www.onlinevisa.com/news/worlds-most-powerful-passports/}} An American passport offered its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 186 countries and territories, with the British passport offering 187 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to their holders. Canadian and Australian passports each offered their holders visa-free access to 185 countries and territories.{{cite web |title=Canadian Passport Ranked Eighth Most Powerful In World - Canada Immigration and Visa Information. Canadian Immigration Services and Free Online Evaluation. |url=https://www.immigration.ca/canadian-passport-ranked-eighth-most-powerful-in-world/ |publisher=Canadian Citizenship & Immigration Resource Center |date=21 July 2022}}

An Afghan passport had once again been labelled by the index as the least powerful passport in the world, with its nationals only able to visit 27 destinations visa-free.{{cite web |last=Madden |first=Duncan |date=10 January 2020 |title=The Most Powerful Passports In The World In 2020 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/duncanmadden/2020/01/10/the-most-powerful-passports-in-the-world-in-2020/#5a6beb34c413 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110202812/https://www.forbes.com/sites/duncanmadden/2020/01/10/the-most-powerful-passports-in-the-world-in-2020/#5a6beb34c413 |archive-date=10 January 2020 |access-date=11 January 2020 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

A number of Asian and European countries are notable for their stability over the past decade, and Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Japan, Singapore, Spain, and Sweden all remain in exactly the same position as 10 years before. The 'Top 10s' were almost identical, with 30 countries in 2015, compared to 26 a decade before. While Liechtenstein dropped, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia, and South Korea all made it into the top 10.

Taiwan, Albania, the United Arab Emirates, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia all moved up more than 20 places in the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index over the period, while the biggest drops were experienced by Guinea (−32), Liberia (−33), Sierra Leone (−35), and Bolivia (−37).

In the table below, the "access" columns denote the number of visa-free destinations for holders of that passport.

Unless indicated otherwise, the data in this table is taken from these sources.{{Cite web|url=https://www.henleypassportindex.com/global-ranking/|title=Henley Passport Global Ranking|website=Henley Passport Index|language=en|access-date=2 December 2020|archive-date=2 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202162529/https://www.henleypassportindex.com/global-ranking|url-status=live}}

• Five Nations Passport Group
• The Passport Index

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160312121441/https://www.henleyglobal.com/files/download/HP/hvri/HP%20Visa%20Restrictions%20Index%20160223.pdf The Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index 2016]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Henley and Partners Visa Restrictions Index}}

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