The U.S. passport is currently the eighth most popular in the world.
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TThe Henley Passport Index ranks the world’s passports based on the number of destinations passport holders can access without a prior visa. The United States has fallen to 8th place, continuing a decade-long decline in the rankings. In January 2024, the United States will move up one place to 7th place, up from 8th place last year. Ten years ago, in 2014, the United States was joint 1st place with the United Kingdom.
Currently, US passport holders can travel visa-free to 186 countries. In comparison, number one ranked Singaporean citizens can travel visa-free to 195 of the 227 countries worldwide.
In second place are France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain, all of which offer visa-free travel to 192 countries. In the rankings, based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), there are 191 visa-free countries, with seven countries in third place – Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea and Sweden. The UK maintains its fourth place position with a visa-free destination score of 190, alongside Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.
According to the Henley & Partners methodology, the US’s poor ranking is due to a lack of reciprocity: US passport holders can enter 186 of 227 countries without a visa, but the US itself has visa-free border access to only 45 other countries, ranking a fairly low 78th on the Henry Openness Index (8th on the Henry Passport Index). This gap is the second-largest in the world, closely behind Australia and just ahead of Canada.
“The general trend over the past two decades has been an increase in travel freedom, with the global average number of destinations that travellers can access without a visa nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 111 by 2024,” said Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, creator of the Passport Index and chairman of Henley & Partners. “However, the global mobility gap between the top and bottom of the index is wider than ever, with top-ranked Singapore having a record-breaking visa-free access to 169 more countries than Afghanistan.” Afghanistan remains the world’s weakest passport, losing access to yet another destination in the past six months. Afghan nationals can travel visa-free to just 26 countries, the lowest score in the 19-year history of the index.
The biggest change is seen in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which enters the top 10 for the first time. The country has added 152 destinations to its current visa-free score of 185 since the index began in 2006, and has risen 53 places in the rankings, from 62nd to 9th.
Dr. Jürg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, said the UAE’s rapid development is the result of “a planned and concerted effort by the Emirati government to position the UAE as a global hub for business, tourism and investment. Our research consistently shows a strong correlation between a country’s visa exemption score and economic prosperity. Countries with higher visa exemption scores tend to have higher GDP per capita, increasing foreign direct investment and stronger international trade relations.”
Venezuela’s biggest fall in ranking over the past decade was recorded when it dropped 17 places on the Henley Passport Index, from 25th to 42nd.
You can see the full rankings here.