SA passport climbs the ranks – Here's what it means for travellers
South Africa's passport power has been bumped up, according to the latest Henley Passport Index, which revealed the newest rankings of all of the world's passports for 2025.
The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world's passports according to the number of destinations their passport-holders can travel to visa-free.
'With historical data spanning 19 years, the Henley Passport Index is the only one of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.' Henley & Partners says.
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SA passport moves up 3 spots
According to these rankings, the SA passport has moved up three spots from 51 to 48 on the list of 199 passports.
Despite the increased power, the index highlighted that South Africans can still only travel to 103 destinations.
The top passports of the world
Here is the updated list of the top five most powerful passports:
Rank Country Number of visa-free countries 1 Singapore 193 2 Japan 190 2 South Korea 190 3 Denmark 189 3 Finland 189 3 France 189 3 Germany 189 3 Ireland 189 3 Italy 189 3 Spain 189 4 Austria 188 4 Belgium 188 4 Luxembourg 188 4 Netherlands 188 4 Norway 188 4 Portugal 188 4 Sweden 188 5 Greece 187 5 New Zealand 187 5 Switzerland 187
Have you travelled to any of the 103 visa-free destinations for South Africans?
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