SINGAPORE: Singaporeans continue to hold the world’s most powerful passport, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to 192 destinations.
It retained its top spot in the latest Henley Passport Index, which was released for the second time in 2026 on July 21.
The United Arab Emirates was the biggest mover since the last report in January, climbing three places to join Japan and South Korea in second place with access to 188 destinations each.
Sweden is ranked third with access to 187 destinations, followed by 11 other European countries tied for fourth.
The fourth-ranked countries that have access to 186 destinations are: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.
Austria, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Switzerland are in joint fifth place, with access to 185 destinations, while Hungary, Poland and the United Kingdom are in sixth.
In seventh place are Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, alongside Canada and four European countries.
The Singapore passport also came out on top in the January rankings by Henley & Partners, which specialises in residence and citizenship planning.
At the other end of the scale, Afghanistan was again ranked last of 199 passports, with access to just 22 destinations.
This is two fewer than the 24 destinations it was reported to have access to in January, creating a record 170-destination global mobility gap with top-ranked Singapore.
Still, the index – now on its 20th year – showed that the average passport now provides visa-free access to 108 destinations worldwide, up from just 58 when it was first launched in 2006.
Henley & Partners also said global travel freedom has expanded widely over the last 20 years.
In 2006, the most powerful passports – held by citizens of the US, Denmark, and Finland – provided visa-free access to 130 destinations.
The expansion of global mobility comes despite a 12th straight year of decline in global peacefulness, according to the latest Global Peace Index by the Institute for Economics & Peace.
Comparing the two indexes, Henley and Partners found a strong correlation between how peaceful a destination is and its passport power over the past 20 years.
Singapore ranks eighth on the GPI and first on the HPI, while Japan, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Czechia, and Malaysia all rank highly on both indices.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen are among the world’s least peaceful nations and have the world’s weakest passports.
Exceptions include Israel, the United States, South Korea, Ukraine and Russia – all of which rank high on the Henley Passport Index but lower in the peace rankings.
Henley Passport Index creator Christian H. Kaelin, who is also the chairman of Henley & Partners, said: “20 years of data show that passport power is one of the clearest expressions of a country’s geopolitical capital. It reflects far more than peace or prosperity alone.
“The world’s strongest passports belong to nations that other countries want as partners – for trade, investment, security, or cooperation. Mobility is ultimately a measure of the value other countries place on their relationship with you.”
The Henley Passport Index, which ranks the world’s passports twice a year, measures how many destinations their holders can access without obtaining a visa in advance.
It is based on official travel data maintained by the International Air Transport Association and used by airlines and governments worldwide to determine entry requirements. - The Straits Times/ANN
