SINGAPORE, 26 July 2024: Singapore breaks away from the peloton of six countries that have shared the top spot on the Henley Passport Index in recent years, reclaiming its title as the world’s most powerful passport in the latest ranking published earlier this week.
The city-state also sets a new record score, with its citizens now enjoying access to 195 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain drop to joint-second place, each with visa-free access to 192 destinations, and an unprecedented 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 third place on the ranking, which is based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The UK ranks fourth with Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland despite its visa-free destination score falling to 190. On the other hand, the US continues its decade-long slide down the index, dropping to the 8th spot, with access to just 186 destinations visa-free.
Former passport powerhouses the UK and the US jointly held first place on the index 10 years ago in 2014. Afghanistan remains firmly entrenched as the world’s weakest passport, losing access to yet another destination over the past six months. Its citizens now have access to only 26 countries visa-free—the lowest score ever recorded in the history of the 19-year-old index.
Commenting in the July 2024 edition of the Henley Global Mobility Report, Henley & Partners chairman and the inventor of the passport index concept Christian H Kaelin said: “The general trend over the past two decades has been towards greater travel freedom, with the global average number of destinations travellers can access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024. However, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than ever, with top-ranked Singapore able to access a record-breaking 169 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan”.
Biggest climbers and fallers
The UAE makes it into the Top 10 for the first time, having added an impressive 152 destinations since the index’s inception in 2006 to achieve its current visa-free score of 185 and rising a remarkable 53 places from 62nd to 9th position in the process.
Henley & Partners CEO, Juerg Steffen, says the country’s meteoric ascent “results from deliberate and concerted efforts by the Emirati government to position the UAE as a global hub for business, tourism, and investment. 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 enjoy greater GDP per capita, increased foreign direct investment, and more robust international trade relationships”.
Interestingly, China and Ukraine are among the top 10 countries that have climbed the highest in the ranking over the past decade. Since 2014, China has jumped up 24 places from 83rd to 59th (with access to 85 destinations visa-free), while Ukraine has advanced by 23 spots, from 53rd to 30th, with its nationals able to visit 148 destinations without a prior visa.
Conversely, Russia has fallen seven places over the past ten years, from 38th to 45th position (with visa-free access to just 116 destinations).
The biggest faller over the last decade is Venezuela, which has plunged 17 places from 25th to 42nd on the Henley Passport Index. The country is due to hold decisive presidential elections on 28 July that could change the fate of more than seven million Venezuelans who have fled their country over the past decade amid an economic and political crisis brought about by a crash in the oil price combined with chronic government corruption and mismanagement.
Yemen has tumbled 15 places to 100th on the ranking, while Nigeria and Syria have fallen 13 places to 92nd and 102nd, respectively. Bangladesh is the fifth-biggest faller, dropping 11 places from 86th to 97th position over the past 10 years.
