US drops out of world’s top 10 most powerful passports

The world’s most powerful passport has been revealed in a quarterly ranking — and sadly, it’s not the United States.

The Henley Passport Index ranks all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations holders can access without a prior visa.

And after analyzing data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), looking at 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations — Singapore topped the leaderboard as the most powerful passport in the world, with visa-free access to 193 destinations worldwide.

In second place was South Korea with 190 destinations, followed by Japan in third with 189.

Vacation hotspots, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland all came in fourth with 188.

And Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Sweden rounded out the top 5 with 186 destinations.

The US dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in the index’s 20-year history, coming in 12th place, tied with Malaysia, as citizens of both countries have visa-free access to 180 destinations.

While 12th place doesn’t seem that bad for the US, there are actually 36 countries that outrank it since the index counts tied countries as a single ranking.

Over 10 years ago, in 2014, the US took the crown for the No. 1 spot alongside the United Kingdom in the annual ranking.

The US passport has been on a steady decline since.

The US isn’t the only one being kicked out of a top spot — last year, the UK fell from sixth place to eighth place, tied with Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries have access to 184 destinations.

And at the very bottom of the list, in 106th place, is Afghanistan. Citizens with a passport have access to only 24 visa-free destinations.

Syria ranked 105th with 26 destinations, and Iraq ranked 104th with 29 destinations.

Here are the world’s most powerful passports for 2025:

1. Singapore (193 destinations)
2. South Korea (190)
3. Japan (189)
4. Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland (188)
5. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands (187)
6. Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden (186)
7. Australia, Czechia, Malta, Poland (185)
8. Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (184)
9. Canada (183)
10. Latvia, Liechtenstein (182)
11. Iceland, Lithuania (181)
12. Malaysia, United States (180)