World’s Most Powerful Passports for 2025 Revealed

By Ben McKimm - Guide

Published: 17 Oct 2025

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Table of contents

Table of Contents

• 10 Most Powerful Passports, Ranked
• 10 Least Powerful Passports, Ranked
• What is the Henley Passport Index?
  • Methodology
• Geopolitical Updates
• General FAQ

Readtime: 5 min

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You’ve planned your dream holiday, but the hidden reality is that airports, customs, and passport control stations are stressful for everyone. You can pass some of the queues with a top frequent flyer status, but you won’t get through borders and checkpoints without the world’s best passports. The handy little document opens doors, gives access to healthcare and grants the right to work and study abroad, provided you’ve got the right country of citizenship.

Every year, exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA)—attained by Henley & Partners—reveals the world’s most powerful passports. This data is used to create the Henley Passport Index, which compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations. 

Singapore has again been ranked as the most powerful passport in the world, with Visa-free access to 193 (one less than 2024) travel destinations. However, the United States dropped from 8th on the list in 2024 (188 destinations) to 12th in 2025 (180 destinations). Meanwhile, Australia gained one place on the list, now tied for 6th (189 destinations) compared to 7th (185 destinations) in 2024. Let’s take a closer look at the top 10 results.

10 Most Powerful Passports, Ranked

Short of opening your suitcase and cycling through the selection of identities, each of varying nationality and citizenship, the likelihood of scoring one of these comes firmly down to birth and location. That being said, changing citizenship can be done, but it requires serious effort.

Here are the best passports to have this year, according to the Henley Passport Index.

10 Least Powerful Passports, Ranked

What is the Henley Passport Index?

Restrictions are nothing new for international travellers heading to or from traditionally non-tourist-centric regions. Depending on the country in which your passport is issued, you may be prevented from entering a certain region, generally due to geopolitical updates and safety concerns.

The good news is that several organisations are dedicated to tracking passport power worldwide, the most prevalent of which is the Henley Passport Index.

Developed using expert commentary and historical data spanning nearly 20 years, the Henley Passport Index provides a ranking of the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. The information in the index is based on official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which harbours the world’s largest database of travel information and compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations.

Methodology

While it sounds simple enough, there is a points system in use here. According to Henley,

• If no visa is required, then a score with value = 1 is created for that passport. The same notion applies if you can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the destination.
• Where a visa is required, or where a passport holder has to obtain a government-approved electronic visa (e-Visa) before departure, a score with value = 0 is assigned. This also applies if you need pre-departure government approval for a visa on arrival.

From there, the total score is calculated for each passport, equal to the number of destinations for which no visa is required (value = 1). For example, a passport that allows free travel between 40 countries with no visa required will score 40 points.

Geopolitical Updates

A recent update to the Henley Passport Index revealed that many EU countries have dramatically reduced travel options for Russian passport holders in light of the recent conflict in Ukraine. More specifically, Henley suggests that Russian aeroplanes have been blocked from airspace, while several regions have stopped processing visas and golden passport applications altogether.

Conversely, Ukrainian passport holders now have new rights to live and work in Europe for up to three years, helping to combat “a gap that is likely to increase even further in the coming months as a result of the conflict,” according to Dr Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept.

“As the value of the Russian passport rapidly declines and the world opens its doors to Ukrainians, it is abundantly clear that the passport you hold determines your fate and dramatically impacts your opportunities,” Dr Kaelin said. “While it’s impossible to predict what the world will look like in the shadow of a new Cold War, the latest index suggests that the divide between Russia and much of the Western world will only increase.”

Additionally, Dr. Kaelin noted that other external factors, such as climate change and migration, are also likely to play an important role in passport power over the coming years. Displacement is a major catalyst for change in this space, and updates of this nature have the potential to challenge visa-free travel moving forward.

General FAQ