For the first time in the history of Henley Passport Index, the list of the world’s most powerful passports no longer includes the United States in the top 10. The US fell to 12th place, tied with Malaysia, in the latest quarterly report.
List of the most powerful passports in 2025:
– Singapore (193 destinations)
– South Korea (190) – Japan (189)
– Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland (188)
– Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands (187)
– Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden (186)
– Australia, Czech Republic, Malta, Poland (185)
– Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (184)
– Canada (183)
– Latvia, Liechtenstein (182)
– Iceland, Lithuania (181)
– USA, Malaysia (180)
Macedonia ranks 42nd with visa-free access to 129 countries.
The best-ranked country in the region is Greece, whose passport ranks 6th with visa-free access to 186 countries.
Serbia is in 36th place, with visa-free access to 137 countries, Albania is tied for 47th place with Bosnia and Herzegovina, with visa-free access to 122 destinations. The Bulgarian passport ranks 14th with visa-free access to 178 countries. Montenegro ranks 43rd with visa-free access to 128 countries, while Croatia and Slovenia are tied for 8th place with visa-free access to 184 countries.
At the bottom of the list, in 106th place, Afghanistan remains the weakest passport with visa-free access to just 24 destinations, two fewer than at the beginning of the year. Syria ranks 105th (26 destinations) and Iraq ranks 104th (29 destinations). The gap in mobility between the best and worst passports is 169 destinations.
What makes a passport “powerful”? One clear indicator is openness to travel – the ability to enter destinations around the world simply by showing your passport, without the need for a visa.
The Henley Passport Index is one of several that measures the “power” of a passport, and for the first time in its 20-year history, the US passport has dropped out of the top ten. Three Asian passports now hold the top spot: Singapore with visa-free access to 193 destinations, South Korea with access to 190 destinations, and Japan with 189 destinations.