The world’s most powerful passport has a clear winner this year — in 2024 it was a six-way tie

Singapore has the world’s most powerful passport, according to the 2025 Henley Passport Index.

The nation-state was one of six countries which tied for the top spot in 2024 in the list produced by the migration consultancy Henley & Partners, which ranks passports by the number of destinations that holders can access without needing a visa.

Singapore broke ahead of the other five countries — Japan, Germany, Italy, Spain and France — with its citizens granted visa-free access to 195 out of 227 global destinations, according to the ranking published Wednesday.

Japan is ranked No. 2, with visa-free access to 193 spots, while the four European countries that were tied for the top spot last year, plus Finland and South Korea, share third place, with each granting passport holders the ability to visit 192 destinations without needing a visa.

Countries in Europe, plus New Zealand, dominate the rest of the top 20 list.

The Henley Passport Index uses data from the International Air Transport Association to rank 199 passports in the world.

“Visa-free,” according to the index, includes situations where no visa is required, or when easier-to-obtain entrance documents, such as visas on arrival, visitor’s permits and electronic travel authorities, are required.

“Surprisingly, the US is the second-biggest faller between 2015 and 2025 after Venezuela, plummeting seven places from 2nd to its current 9th position,” the release stated.

Passports from the United Kingdom — which topped the list in 2015 — and Canada also fell, it said.

China rose in the ranking to land in 60th place in 2025. Its openness to other countries also greatly increased, with China now allowing citizens from 58 destinations to visit visa-free — half of which were added in the past year — according to the Henley Openness Index.

Afghanistan is again deemed to have the weakest passport on the list. It was ranked last for granting access to only 26 out of 227 destinations. Its citizens can visit places such as Cambodia, Maldives, Djibouti, Sri Lanka and Haiti without needing to obtain a visa.

The gap between the strongest and weakest passports on the list is the largest in the index’s 19-year history, according to Henley & Partners. Singaporeans can visit 169 more places than Afghans can without needing a visa, it states.

After Afghanistan, the weakest passports on the list are those from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, Nepal, the Palestinian territories, Libya and Bangladesh, each of which ranks below North Korea, whose citizens can visit 41 destinations worldwide, according to the ranking.