U.S. Drops To No. 9 In World’s Most Powerful Passport Index

The United States continues its decade-long slide to the 9th spot on the Henley Passport Index, a ranking of the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

Global mobility is an important measure of soft power for a nation’s citizens when they go abroad. A U.S. passport currently gives its holder access to 186 destinations visa-free—putting the blue book on equal standing with the Estonian passport.

In comparison, citizens of Singapore—the No. 1 passport in the ranking— enjoy access to 195 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. The second most powerful passport in the world is Japan, which gives access to 193 destinations without needing a visa.

This time last year, the U.S. had climbed a spot to No. 7, up from No. 8 the previous year. Just over a decade ago, in 2014, the U.S. jointly held No. 1 position with the United Kingdom.

The United States’ ranking is held down by its lack of reciprocity, according to how Henley & Partners makes its calculations. While American passport holders can access 186 out of 227 destinations visa-free, the U.S. itself allows only 46 other nationalities to pass through its borders visa-free, putting it way down the Henley Openness Index in 84th place (compared to 9th place on the Henley Passport Index). The Openness Index ranks countries and territories worldwide according to the number of nationalities they permit entry to without a prior visa.

Some experts blame the U.S. passport’s decline in power on the country’s “America First” posture. “Even before the advent of a second Trump presidency, American political trends had become notably inward-looking and isolationist,” said Annie Pforzheimer, Senior Associate at Washington thinktank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Even though U.S. economic health relies heavily on immigration, tourism, and trade, voters, during the 2024 presidential campaign were fed a narrative that America can (and should) stand alone. Ultimately, if tariffs and deportations are the Trump administration’s default policy tools, not only will the U.S. continue to decline on the mobility index on a comparative basis, but it will probably do so in absolute terms as well. This trend in tandem with China’s greater openness will likely give rise to Asia’s greater soft power dominance worldwide.”

In contrast to Americans, Chinese citizens have seen their mobility rise over the past decade, with the country ascending from No. 94 in 2015 to No. 60 in 2025 on Henley’s index. Its visa-free score increased by 40 destinations in 10 years. And in terms of its openness to other nations, China has also risen on the Henley Openness Index. China granted visa-free access to a further 29 countries over just the past year, and now sits at No. 80 in the ranking, granting visa-free entry to a total of 58 nations as the new year begins.

U.S. nationals constitute the single largest cohort of applicants for alternative residence and citizenship, accounting for a remarkable 21% of all investment migration program applications received by Henley & Partners in 2024. CEO Dr. Juerg Steffen notes that the firm has more American clients than the next four biggest nationalities—Turkish, Filipino, Indian, and Brits—combined. “Faced with unprecedented volatility, investors and wealthy families are adopting a strategy of geopolitical arbitrage to acquire additional residence and/or citizenship options to hedge against jurisdictional risk and leverage the differences in legal, economic, political, and social conditions across countries to optimize their personal, financial, and lifestyle outcomes,” he said.

World’s Most Powerful Passports: Top 5 Losers in 2025

Twenty-two of the world’s 199 passports have dropped in the ranking over the past decade. Only Venezuela has tumbled farther than the U.S., which dropped seven places from 2nd place in 2015 to its current 9th position.

Vanuatu, a tiny South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands made the third-biggest drop, losing six places from 48th to 54th position in 10 years.

The British passport, which was top of the index in 2015, now sits in 5th place. Completing the top 5 losers list is Canada, which dropped three spots over the past decade from 4th to its current 7th place.

Twenty-two of the world’s 199 passports have dropped in the ranking over the past decade. Only Venezuela has tumbled farther than the U.S., which dropped seven places from 2nd place in 2015 to its current 9th position.

Vanuatu, a tiny South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands made the third-biggest drop, losing six places from 48th to 54th position in 10 years.

The British passport, which was top of the index in 2015, now sits in 5th place. Completing the top 5 losers list is Canada, which dropped three spots over the past decade from 4th to its current 7th place.

World’s Most Powerful Passports: Top 5

After Singapore and Japan, a six-nation cohort, each with access to 192 destinations without a prior visa—Finland, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Spain—now sit in 3rd place in the ranking, which is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The No. 4 spot is shared by seven nations—Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden—with a visa-free destination score of 191.

Coming in fifth place, a group of five countries are tied with access to 190 visa-free destinations: Belgium, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

In all, the citizens of 27 countries have more visa-free global mobility than Americans.

Mind the Mobility Gap

At the bottom of the Henley Passport Index is Afghanistan, whose citizens have lost visa-free access to two more destinations over the past year. This extends the mobility gap between its and countries like Singapore. In 2025, Singaporeans enjoy visa-free access to 169 more destinations than Afghan passport holders, who need a visa to enter all but 26 destinations in the world.