U.S. Falls Back To No. 8 In World’s Most Powerful Passport Index

The United States continues its decade-long slide down the Henley Passport Index to the 8th 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. In January 2024, the U.S. had climbed a spot to No. 7, up from No. 8 last year. A decade ago, in 2014, the U.S. jointly held No. 1 position with the United Kingdom.

Currently, a U.S. passport gives its holder access to 186 destinations visa-free. 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.

Sharing the No. 2 spot: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain, each with visa-free access to 192 destinations. A seven-nation cohort, each with access to 191 destinations without a prior visa — Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden — now sit in 3rd place on the ranking, which is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The United Kingdom hangs onto 4th place along with Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland, with its visa-free destination score of 190.

The United States’ ranking is held back 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 45 other nationalities to pass through its borders visa-free, putting it way down the Henley Openness Index in 78th place (compared to 8th place on the Henley Passport Index). That gap is the second biggest globally, narrowly trailing Australia and barely outpacing Canada.

“The general trend over the past two decades has been towards greater travel freedom, with the global average number of destinations travelers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024,” says Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index. “However, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than it has ever been, with top-ranked Singapore able to access a record-breaking 169 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan.” Afghanistan remains the world’s weakest passport, losing access to yet another destination over the past six months. Its citizens have visa-free access to only 26 countries, the lowest score ever recorded in history of the 19-year-old index.

The biggest mover and shaker is the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which breaks into the top 10 for the first time, having added 152 destinations since the index’s inception in 2006 to achieve its current visa-free score of 185, and rising a remarkable 53 places in the ranking from 62nd to 9th position during that time.

The UAE’s country’s meteoric ascent “is the result of deliberate and concerted efforts by the Emirati government to position the UAE as a global hub for business, tourism, and investment,” says Henley & Partners CEO Dr. Juerg Steffen. “Our research has consistently shown a strong correlation between a country’s visa-free score and its economic prosperity. Nations with higher visa-free scores tend to enjoy greater GDP per capita, increased foreign direct investment, and more robust international trade relationships.”

Over the last decade, the biggest tumbler has been Venezuela, which plunged 17 places from 25th to 42nd on the Henley Passport Index.

The full rankings can be found here.