Singapore retains world's most powerful passport with visa-free access to 192 destinations

Singaporeans continue to hold the world's most powerful passport, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to 192 destinations, retaining the top spot in the latest Henley Passport Index.

The index, compiled by residence and citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners, was released for the second time in 2026 on Monday, 21 July, 2026.

Singapore had also topped the January 2026 rankings, maintaining its position at the head of the global mobility table.

The United Arab Emirates was the biggest mover since the previous report in January, climbing three places to join Japan and South Korea in second, with access to 188 destinations each.

Sweden ranked third, with access to 187 destinations, followed by 11 other European countries tied for fourth.

The fourth-ranked countries, with access to 186 destinations, were Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.

Austria, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Switzerland shared joint fifth place, with access to 185 destinations, while Hungary, Poland and the United Kingdom held sixth.

In seventh place were Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, alongside Canada and four European countries.

At the other end of the scale, Afghanistan was again ranked last of 199 passports, with access to just 22 destinations.

This figure was two fewer than the 24 destinations reported in January, creating a record 170-destination global mobility gap with top-ranked Singapore.

The index, now in 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 said global travel freedom had expanded widely over the past two decades.

In 2006, the most powerful passports, held by citizens of the United States, Denmark and Finland, provided visa-free access to 130 destinations.

The expansion of global mobility comes despite a 12th consecutive year of decline in global peacefulness, according to the latest Global Peace Index by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Comparing the two indexes, Henley & 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 Global Peace Index and first on the Henley Passport Index.

Japan, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Czechia and Malaysia all rank highly on both indexes.

Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen are among the world's least peaceful nations and hold the world's weakest passports.

Exceptions include Israel, the United States, South Korea, Ukraine and Russia, all of which rank highly on the Henley Passport Index but lower in the peace rankings.

Henley Passport Index creator Dr Christian H. Kaelin, who is also chairman of Henley & Partners, said 20 years of data showed that passport power was one of the clearest expressions of a country's geopolitical capital, reflecting far more than peace or prosperity alone.

He said the world's strongest passports belonged to nations that other countries wanted as partners for trade, investment, security or cooperation.

Dr Kaelin added that mobility was ultimately a measure of the value other countries placed on their relationship with a given nation.

The Henley Passport Index, which ranks the world's passports twice a year, measures how many destinations holders can access without obtaining a visa in advance.

It is based on official travel data maintained by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), used by airlines and governments worldwide to determine entry requirements.