These are the world's most (and least) powerful passports in 2025

Passport Control at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on January 11, 2024. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Travellers holding a Singapore passport have visa-free access to almost the entire planet, according to the latest data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for 2025.

The Henley Passport Index shows Singapore and Japan break away from the group of six countries that shared the top spot last year to secure gold and silver, respectively.

Singapore is back at the top as the most powerful passport in the world with visa-free access to 195 out of 227 destinations worldwide. It leaves Japan in the runner-up spot with a score of 193 but still ahead of the rest after it regained visa-free access to neighbouring China for the first time since the Covid lockdown.

The report offers good news to European Union (EU) citizens who dominate the top 10 spots in the most powerful passport tracker.

France, Germany, Italy, and Spain dropped two places in the ranking to the third position. They are joined by Finland and South Korea, which each lost a place over the past 12 months and now have access to 192 destinations with no prior visa required.

Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden share the fourth place with visa-free access to 191 destinations. Belgium, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, and the UK come in 5th with 190 visa-free destinations.

Among the top 10 countries are Australia (sixth place with 189 destinations), Canada (seventh place with 188 destinations), the US (ninth place with 186 destinations), and the UAE, the first and only Arab State to ever make it into the upper echelons of the rankings.

Having secured access to an additional 72 destinations since 2015, the UAE has been one of the biggest climbers on the index over the past decade - enabling it to climb 32 places to 10th spot with visa-free access to 185 destinations worldwide.

Prof Mehari Taddele Maru of the School of Transnational Governance and the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute and of Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies compared Schengen visa rejection rates for African applicants to those from other regions.

“My latest research compares the 10 countries facing the highest Schengen visa rejection rates and reveals that while globally only one in six applications are rejected, one in two African applicants is rejected," Prof Maru said.

"In 2023, African countries accounted for just 2.8 per cent of global applications out of a total of over 10 million worldwide, yet half of their applications were rejected. Even more concerning is that this trend has worsened over the past decade, with rejection rates more than doubling during this period.”

A Schengen visa is a permit that allows travellers to enter the Schengen Area, which is made up of 29 European countries. The visa allows for short-term stays or transit through the Schengen Area.

In a research conducted for Henley & Partners and published in the Henley Global Mobility Report 2025, Maru says this pattern suggests that the variation in rejection rates between regions and nationalities extends beyond purely economic factors.

“This growing disparity in visa rejection rates contributes to a broader pattern of global mobility inequality. As a result, African citizens find themselves at the bottom of the mobility ladder, which significantly limits their access to international economic opportunities.

"In short, the poorest individuals face the greatest difficulties when seeking to travel or move to more prosperous countries.

"I would argue that weak economies and discriminatory policies based on identity and culture explain the high rate of rejection for African Schengen visa applicants.”