The world’s most powerful passport for 2025 has been revealed, and the United Kingdom has found itself in fifth place.
It lowered one place from fourth in 2024.
The Henley Passport Index shared its definitive list of the most powerful passports for 2025.
It included 199 different global passports and 227 travel destinations.
How it works is that the index compares visa-free access of the 199 passports to the destinations.
If no visa is required, then the passport is awarded a value of one.
The same applies if you can obtain a visa on arrival (VOA), a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the destination.
However, if a visa is required, or a passport holder has to get a government-approved electronic visa before departure, it is given a score with a value of zero.
This also applies if you need pre-departure government approval for a visa on arrival.
Having collated all the data, the most powerful passport in the world for 2025 is Singapore, for the second year in a row, with access to 195 countries.
It was closely followed by Japan in second (193), and a number of countries in joint third which have access to 192 visa-free.
These included Finland, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Spain.
The United Kingdom found itself in joint fifth place, boasting access to 190 different destinations with visa-free access.
The UK came joint fifth alongside Belgium, New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland.
At the other end of Global Passport Ranking in 106th place was Afghanistan (26), Syria in 105th (27), Iraq in 104th (31), and Pakistan and Yemen in joint 103rd with access to 33 countries visa-free.
When travelling on a UK passport, the destinations where a visa or an electronic visa is needed include Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Benin, Bhutan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iran, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and Yemen.
World’s Most Powerful Passports 2025
- Singapore – 1st – 195
- Japan – 2nd – 193
- Finland – 3rd – 192
- France – 3rd – 192
- Germany – 3rd – 192
- Italy – 3rd – 192
- South Korea – 3rd – 192
- Spain – 3rd – 192
- Austria – 4th – 191
- Denmark – 4th – 191
- Ireland – 4th – 191
- Luxembourg – 4th – 191
- Netherlands – 4th – 191
- Norway – 4th – 191
- Sweden – 4th – 191
- Belgium – 5th – 190
- New Zealand – 5th – 190
- Portugal – 5th – 190
- Switzerland – 5th – 190
- United Kingdom – 5th – 190
You can compare your passport and see the full list here.
