Which countries' passports are the second most powerful in the world?

Everyone knows that Singapore's passport is the most 'powerful' in the world , so what countries' passports rank next to Singapore's?

Singapore passport holders can travel to a total of 195 destinations without a visa, more than any other country - Photo: Comparepassport.com

Singapore remains the world's most powerful passport, with visa-free access to 195 countries and territories. The most widely reported passport ranking is the Henley Passport Index, compiled by consulting firm Henley & Partners.

Singapore passport tops the rankings

The index is based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). According to the data, the main factor in determining how "powerful" a passport is is the number of countries that a citizen of a country can visit visa-free. Singapore passport holders can travel to a total of 195 destinations without a visa, more than any other country. Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are closely followed, with visa-free access to 192 global destinations. In September 2024, Denmark gained visa-free access to China, bringing the country into third place along with Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea and Sweden. These countries can travel to 191 countries and territories without a visa. Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Norway will also soon gain visa-free access to China, boosting their scores by one point. US passport holders now have visa-free access to 186 countries, putting them in eighth place. British passport holders remain in fourth place, although the UK's visa-free score recently dropped from 191 to 190. It has been a decade since the UK and the US shared the top spot in the 2014 rankings.

Global travel trends 2024

Commenting on the July 2024 edition of the Henley Global Travel Report, Dr Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and creator of the passport index, said the gap in global mobility is widening rapidly. “The overall trend over the past two decades has been towards greater freedom of movement, with the average number of global destinations that travellers can access visa-free almost doubling from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024,” he said. “However, the gap in global mobility between the top and bottom countries in the rankings is now wider than ever. Singapore, at the top of the rankings, has a record 169 more visa-free destinations than Afghanistan.” Volek told Traveler that recent international agreements show that “visa-free travel is being used as an important diplomatic tool to strengthen relations between countries.” Vietnam ranked 90th in this ranking. Passport holders are exempt from visas to 51 countries and territories.

The most powerful passports in the world in 2024:

Singapore (195 locations)
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain (192 locations)
Denmark, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden (191 locations)
Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom (190 locations)
Australia, Portugal (189 locations)
Greece, Poland (188 locations)
Canada, Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta (187 locations)
United States (186 locations)
Estonia, Lithuania, United Arab Emirates (185 locations)
Iceland, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (184 locations)
Croatia, Malaysia (183 locations)
Liechtenstein (182 locations)
Cyprus, Monaco (178 locations)
Bulgaria, Romania (177 locations)
Chile (176 locations)
San Marino, Argentina (172 locations)
Andorra, Brazil, Hong Kong (171 locations)
Israel (170 locations)
Brunei (166 locations)
Barbados (165 locations)