The latest Henley Passport Index report, cited by CNN, shows that Singapore has the strongest passport in the world, allowing visa-free travel to 192 of 227 countries and territories. In second place are Japan and South Korea, whose citizens can freely enter 188 places in the world.
The index, which was prepared by the London-based company Henley & Partners, is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
TOP10 passports in the world according to Henley Passport Index 2026:
- Singapore – 192 countries
- Japan, South Korea – 188 countries
- Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland – 186 countries
- Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway – 185 countries
- Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates – 184 countries
- Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Malta, New Zealand, Poland – 183 countries
- Australia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Great Britain – 182 countries
- Canada, Iceland, Lithuania – 181 countries
- Malaysia – 180 countries
- United States – 179 countries
Over the past two decades, the US has suffered the third-largest decline in rankings, after Venezuela and Vanuatu, moving from fourth to tenth place. At the bottom of the list was Afghanistan, whose citizens can travel without a visa to only 24 countries. Syria and Iraq rank 100th and 99th respectively (26 and 29 countries). The difference between the highest and lowest rated passports is as much as 168 countries.
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As Misha Glenny, journalist and rector of the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna, emphasizes, the power of the passport reflects political stability, diplomatic credibility and the ability to shape international rules. In his opinion, the deteriorating position of the USA and Great Britain is a signal of profound geopolitical changes.
In turn, Christian H. Kaelin, president of Henley & Partners and creator of the index, claims that “over the last 20 years, global mobility has increased significantly, but the benefits from this process are distributed very unevenly.” In his opinion, travel advantages are increasingly concentrated in the richest and most politically stable countries.
