Singapore has retained its position as the world’s most powerful passport in the latest Henley Passport Index, offering visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227 tracked locations, according to data compiled using the International Air Transport Association (IATA) database.
Japan and South Korea share second place with 188 destinations, while five European countries — Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland — are tied in third with 186. A broader European cluster occupies fourth place with 185 destinations, including Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway, reflecting sustained intra-European mobility and strong diplomatic reach.
The index highlights diverging trajectories among major Western passports. The United Kingdom recorded the steepest year-on-year decline in the ranking, slipping to a visa-free score of 182 destinations — eight fewer than a year earlier. The United States sits at 179 destinations after losing access to seven destinations over the same period, leaving it effectively outranked by dozens of countries once ties are accounted for.
Henley & Partners also pointed to the accelerating rise of the United Arab Emirates, which is tied for fifth place on the Henley index (184 destinations) and is described as the strongest long-term climber in the index’s two-decade history, adding 149 destinations since 2006 through sustained visa liberalisation and diplomatic engagement.
At the bottom of the table, Afghanistan remains last, with visa-free access to 24 destinations, underscoring what Henley describes as an expanding “mobility gap” between the most and least advantaged travellers.
A competing benchmark, the Passport Index operated by Arton Capital, continues to rank passports using a different scoring approach that blends visa-free and visa-on-arrival access. Under its 2026 “Passport Power Rank,” the UAE is listed at No. 1 with a mobility score of 179 — illustrating how methodology can materially change the headline winners even when underlying mobility trends point in similar directions.
The world’s most powerful passports for 2026
- Singapore (192 destinations)
- Japan, South Korea (188)
- Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland (186)
- Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway (185)
- Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates (184)
- Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Malta, New Zealand, Poland (183)
- Australia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, United Kingdom (182)
- Canada, Iceland, Lithuania (181)
- Malaysia (180)
- United States (179)
