The list of world’s most powerful passports for 2024 was recently unveiled and it seems that the United States may be struggling to hold ground while Singapore continues to reign at the top spot.
According to CNN, the rankings for this year’s powerful passports, tracked by the Henley Passport Index, show that Singapore’s passport has once again been named the world’s most powerful travel document.
This index was co-created by London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners.
It has been tracking global freedoms in 227 countries and territories around the world for the past 19 years, using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Additionally, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain jointly hold the second spot, and people living in these countries can enjoy visa-free visits to almost 192 destinations.
In the third place are South Korea, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands — all of which have the privilege of seamless jaunts to 191 destinations.
The United Kingdom stands in fourth place (190 destinations), alongside New Zealand, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, and Switzerland.
Australia and Portugal share the fifth spot with the ability to travel to 189 destinations.
However, the US has dropped to eighth place, with visa-free access to a modest 186 destinations.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan has been ranked the weakest passport, but now its citizens can only travel to 26 countries without a visa — the lowest score recorded in the index’s history of nearly two decades.
World’s most powerful passports for 2024
1. Singapore (195 destinations)
2. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain (192)
3. Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden (191)
4. Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and United Kingdom (190)
5. Australia and Portugal (189)
6. Greece and Poland (188)
7. Canada, Czechia, Hungary, and Malta (187)
8. United States (186)
9. Estonia, Lithuania, and United Arab Emirates (185)
10. Iceland, Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia (184)