S'pore reclaims title of world's most powerful passport

Singapore has reclaimed its spot for the most powerful passport in the world.

According to a Jul. 23 press release by Henley & Partners, Singapore now enjoys visa-free access to 195 destinations out of a list of 227.

Shared top spot with five other countries in 2023

Previously in 2023, Singapore shared the top spot with Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, all of which are now in joint second place with visa-free access to 192 destinations.

In third place is a seven-nation cohort consisting of Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden, with visa-free access to 191 destinations.

The UK passport is currently ranked fourth with access to 190 destinations, while the U.S. is in eighth place with 186 destinations.

The Chairman of Henley & Partners, Christian H. Kaelin, noted that while the general trend over the past two years been towards greater travel freedom, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than ever.

"Singapore (passport holders are) able to access a record-breaking 169 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan," Kaelin added.

Afghanistan is the country with the world's weakest passport, with only 26 visa-free destinations available.

Singapore also "significantly" more open than the countries in second place

Henley & Partners also noted that Singapore is "significantly" more open than the five countries in second place.

According to Henley & Partners' Openness index, which ranks all 199 countries worldwide according to the number of nationalities they permit entry to without a prior visa, Singapore ranks 15th, meaning travellers from 164 nationalities out of 199 can arrive without a visa.

By contrast, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain are in 49th position, only allowing 93 countries visa-free access, while Japan comes in at the 65th position, giving visa-free access to just 70 other nations.

The most open countries are Burundi, Cape Verde Islands, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Maldives, Micronesia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Samoa, Timor-Leste, and Tuvalu — all of which allow visa-free entry, or visa-on-arrival entry to all 198 passports in the world (not including their own passports).

Meanwhile, the countries that do not permit visa-free access for any passport are Afghanistan, North Korea, and Turkmenistan.

Top photo via Mothership