A passport power ranking is a real thing. A U.S. passport isn’t at the top, spoiler alert.
According to the 2024 Henley Passport Index, citizens of the following six nations are now thought to possess the most powerful passports in the world: Japan, Singapore, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
For the first time in the index’s 19 years, six nations share the top rank, allowing their residents to visit 194 out of 227 locations without a visa. This means that the owners of the index can travel to the majority of worldwide locations without a visa.
Following closely are South Korea, Sweden, and Finland, with access to 193 destinations. The Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, and Austria shared third place with visa-free travel to 192 locations.
With their seventh-strongest passport, Americans can travel to 188 countries without a visa. The United States and the United Kingdom shared the top position in 2014.
For entry into these 80+ countries—some of which the government advises you to avoid—you need a visa.
Is it time to get your passport? Wait times for passports are at their lowest since March 2020.
The good news for non-citizens of these nations is that the index has generally trended toward more travel freedom over the last 20 years.
“Travelers can now access almost twice as many destinations without a visa as they could in 2006—58 in 2006 compared to 111 in 2024,” stated in a news release Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and creator of the passport index idea.
The International Air Transport Association provides “exclusive and official data” that is used to rank the 2024 Henley Passport Index, which comprises 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.
The United Arab Emirates has climbed the quickest on the ranking, adding 106 new visa-free destinations in the last ten years. It changed from Nonetheless, there has never been a greater disparity in global mobility between the wealthiest and least powerful nations. The top-ranked nations have access to 166 more travel locations than Afghanistan, whose citizens are limited to 28 countries without a visa. Syria and Iraq are ranked above Afghanistan and enable visa-free travel to 29 and 31 locations, respectively.
The 2024 Henley Passport Index lists the following as the most powerful passports in the world:
Accessible to 194 locations, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain
- South Korea, Finland, and Sweden (with access to 193 destinations)
- Denmark, Austria, Ireland, and the Netherlands (with access to 192 locations)
- Norway, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom (with access to 191 destinations)
- Greece, Switzerland (with access to 190 destinations), and Malta
- Australia, Poland (access to 189 locations), the Czech Republic, and New Zealand
- Canada, Hungary, and the United States (access to 188 destinations)
- Lithuania and Estonia (with 187 destinations accessible)
- Slovenia, Slovakia, and Latvia (with access to 186 locations)
- Iceland (with connections to 185 locations)