Strongest Passport in the World

The stronger your passport, the more countries you will be able to visit without first obtaining a visa, or without needing to obtain a visa before entry. This makes travelling abroad significantly easier, as you can avoid lengthy embassy waits, visa application fees, and the possibility of an unsuccessful visa application. Travel and professional opportunities are both boosted substantially by possessing a strong visa, and many individuals choose to pursue citizenship of new countries in order to maximise these opportunities.

According to the Passport Index, Singapore is the country which allows visa-free travel to most countries, with Singaporean passport holders authorised to enter 137 countries without a visa. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), meanwhile, is ranked top for total mobility score, allowing visa-free access to 132 countries and visa-upon-entry access to 47 countries.

According to the Henley Passport Index, the top 3 countries for passport strength in 2026 are Singapore, Japan, and South Korea. Asian countries are thus especially well-represented, with European countries taking many of the following top spots.

Page Contents

• Overview
• 2026 Global Passport Power Rank
• The most powerful passports for 2026
• The link between visa-free travel and economic power
• The future of tourism
• What is the Passport Index?
• Method of the Passport Index
• 2025 Henley Passport Index
• 2024 Henley Passport Index
• 2023 Henley Passport Index
• References
• Further reading
• How can London Immigration Lawyers Help?
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Passport Index’s Global Passport Power Rank 2026 lists the world’s top countries for total mobility score. A passport’s ranking is not just determined by the number of countries to which it allows visa-free entry but also by the number of countries to which it allows the holder to obtain a visa after entering the country, Some spots in the ranking are shared by multiple countries.

The top spots are as follows:

1. United Arab Emirates
2. Singapore
3. Malaysia
4. Spain
5. Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Portugal, Norway, Ireland, South Korea, Japan
6. Croatia, Malta, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary
7. Lithuania, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, New Zealand
8. Cyprus, Iceland, Australia, Liechtenstein
9. Canada, United Kingdom
10. Monaco, United States

If you are a citizen of a country on this list, your passport will allow you a high level of global mobility, minimising the steps you must take in order to visit a number of exciting world destination.

In terms of the number of countries which passport holders can enter without a visa, UAE, French, and Singaporean passports are the most powerful global passports of 2026. A UAE passport allows visa-free access to 136 countries, a French passport to 131 countries, and a Singaporean passport to 138 countries.

This does not include countries in which these passports allow their holders to obtain a passport upon arrival, an ability which further strengthens the global mobility of individuals with these passports.

A number of other countries also allow visa-free access to over 120 countries, including the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Denmark. If you are a citizen of one of these countries, you can pick from a high number of visa-free options when choosing your next travel destination.

EU countries are especially well-represented in the ranking, and EU passport holders are also free to live, work, and study in any other EU country without requiring a visa, further boosting the mobility of EU passport holders. Since the UK left the EU, UK passport holders no longer share in this ability, reducing the power of the UK visa in relation to many other European countries.

However, even though the UK has left the EU, it still ranks highly for global passport strength. Its passport still allows temporary visa-free travel to countries within the EU and to many other exciting travel destinations, such as the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Where a passport allows visa-free access to a high number of global destinations, this is generally a good sign that the country granting that passport has a strong economy and an impressive level of economic power.

Holders of strong passports generally face fewer barriers to securing international Work visas and the countries granting strong passports are often more likely to secure increased global cooperation with other countries, higher levels of foreign investment, and easier international travel for their citizens. All of these benefits boost the economy of the country in question and ensure that their citizens have an easier time navigating an increasingly globalised world.

In the UK, British passport holders are able to visit numerous countries without needing a visa and are often appealing candidates for international Work visas. Countries like the US, Canada, and Australia are popular choices for UK workers looking to move overseas. Additionally, UK citizens are more able to travel overseas to pursue business opportunities such as meetings, interviews, and talks compared to many other passport holders. This boosts economic opportunities whilst also contributing to cultural exchanges between the UK and other global destinations.

In general, a country with a strong passport can expect to receive a number of economic benefits, such as greater foreign investment, a more mobile workforce, and the possibility of reciprocal passport agreements with other countries (as is the case between the UK and EU, for example).

For holders of strong passport, international travel is often a popular pastime. Possessing a powerful passport increases the number of global destinations which you can enter without first needing to navigate visa applications, lengthy administrative processes, and the possibility of an unsuccessful visa application.

Countries with strong passports, such as the UK, contribute significantly to the tourism industry of many top global tourist destinations, such as Spain, Greece, and Portugal.

So what is the future of international tourism? Citizens of the countries with the strongest passports, such as Singapore and the UAE, are expected to continue facing fewer barriers to international travel, given their tendency to maintain similarly strong positions in annual passport indexes.

However, with growing focus on the impact of air travel on the climate, it is possible that there will be increasing national and international pressure to reduce our collective reliance on air travel. This is likely to be especially likely in the case of domestic flights where the journey can be completed without needing to take a plane, but greater pressure to minimise international flights may also eventually emerge.

For the time being, international travel remains a popular pursuit for many passport-holders, even where the passports rank lower in the global index. However, with increased focus on the climate impact of international travel, this trend may eventually change.

The Passport Index is designed to give an insight into the passport rankings of different countries around the world. It is used across the world to understand the global mobility of different passports, make investment decisions, and spot changes and developments in international passport power.

In particular, the index provides information on how many visa-free countries holders of different passports can visit, and in how many countries they can enter without a visa and obtain a visa on arrival.

The Passport Index states 3 main purposes: informing the public of the power of different passports, engaging people in discussions about global mobility and related themes, and inspiring individuals to become ‘global citizens’ and explore additional citizenship options and the associated responsibilities.

The index allows you to compare passports and destinations. When looking at passports, you can compare the passport power of each country. When looking at destinations, you can see how welcoming the different countries are, providing a different perspective on global mobility within that location.

The Passport Index is created using data from countries and territories which issue their own passports. Annexed territories (such as Norfolk Island, French Polynesia, and the British Virgin Islands) which do not issue their own passports are excluded from the data set.

The ranking of each country is determined using the following factors:

• Each country’s mobility score, which is calculated using the number of visa-free countries to which the passport holder can travel, the number of countries in which the passport holder can obtain a visa on arrival, and countries for which passport holders can obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation and eVisa (in cases where is is issued within 3 days of submitting the application, rather than requiring a longer application process)
• The portion of the score which allows visa-free access versus obtaining a visa on arrival (as higher visa-free entry is ultimately a sign of greater passport strength)
• In cases where a tie-breaker is needed, data from the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index is used

Taking into account all these factors, the UAE received the highest ranking in 2026 with a mobility score of 180. Afghanistan received the lowest ranking with a mobility score of 36.

Henley and Partners also create their own passport index. According to their ranking, the top 10 countries for passport strength are as follows:

1. Singapore
2. Japan, South Korea
3. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain
4. Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden
5. Greece, New Zealand, Switzerland
6. United Kingdom
7. Australia, Czechia, Hungary, Malta, Poland
8. Canada, Estonia, UAE
9. Croatia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia
10. Iceland, Lithuania, United States

There are some significant differences between this ranking and the Passport Index. For instance, the UAE ranks significantly lower, in 8th place, and the UK ranks more highly in 6th place (although it ranks higher in the 2024 Henley Passport Index, taking joint 4th place, suggesting that UK passport strength has decreased, according to some metrics, over the last year). Singapore takes the top spot in the 2025 Henley ranking, whereas it takes 3rd place in the Passport Index.

This acts as a reminder of how different factors contribute to passport strength and the strength of a country’s passport can be ranked as higher or lower depending on how its strength is measured. In the case of the Henley Index, they use a different methodology, calculating their ranking based on data from the International Air Transport Authority, explaining why their results differ from those of the Passport Index.

In 2024, the top 10 countries for passport strength according to the Henley and Partners index were as follows:

1. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain
2. Finland, South Korea, Sweden
3. Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands
4. Belgium, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, UK
5. Greece, Malta, Switzerland
6. Australia, Czechia, New Zealand, Poland
7. Canada, Hungary, US
8. Estonia, Lithuania
9. Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia
10. Iceland

This ranking has some significant differences from the 2025 Henley ranking, with the UK higher in 2024 in joint 4th place and EU countries primarily taking the top spot. This is a reminder that passport strength is changeable and can vary from year to year, depending on numerous global and domestic variables.

In 2023, the top 10 countries for passport strength according to the Henley and Partners index were as follows:

1. Japan
2. Singapore, South Korea
3. Germany, Spain
4. Finland, Italy, Luxembourg
5. Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden
6. France, Ireland, Portugal, UK
7. Belgium, Czechia, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, US
8. Australia, Canada, Greece, Malta
9. Hungary, Poland
10. Lithuania, Slovakia

In 2023, Asian countries are back to taking the top spots, closely followed by a number of countries in the EU.

Overall, although the exact placements change from year to year, countries such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and Spain tend to do especially well in the Henley and Partners passport index.

De Gallier, T., 2024. ‘These are the world’s most powerful passports to have in 2024’, World Economic Forum, 31 Jan, Available at: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/01/2024-power-passport-visa-free-travel/ (accessed on: 14.08.25).

Henley and Partners., 2025. ‘The Henley Passport Index’, Available at: https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index/ranking (accessed on: 15.08.25).

Madden, D., 2025. ‘The World’s Most Powerful Passports in 2025, According to Henley Index’, Forbes, 8 Jan, Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/duncanmadden/2025/01/08/henley-passport-ranking-the-worlds-most-powerful-passports-in-2025/ (accessed on: 14.08.25).

Passport Index., 2025. ‘Global Passport Power Rank 2025’, Available at: https://www.passportindex.org/byRank.php (accessed on 13.08.25).