Singaporeans continue to hold world's most powerful passport
The Singapore passport allows visa-free access to 193 destinations.
SINGAPORE – Singaporeans continue to hold the world's most powerful passport, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 193 destinations out of 227 globally, according to the latest Henley Passport Index released on July 22.
The Republic retained its first-place ranking despite a slight dip from 195 destinations in the
January 2025 edition of the index .
Singapore lost visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to Pakistan and Mauritania after both countries switched from visa-on-arrival to e-Visa systems.
E-Visas, unlike visa-on-arrival arrangements, require travellers to obtain approval before departure and are not counted as visa-free access in the index.
This reduced Singapore's tally by two points, but it retained its lead as other top-ranked passports were similarly affected.
The index is compiled by global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners, using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association.
It is published twice a year - in January and July - and tracks the number of destinations passport holders can enter without needing a prior visa.
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A spokeswoman for Henley & Partners told The Straits Times that the index is dynamic and changes monthly due to shifting visa policies, with new agreements signed or reversed regularly.
'The January index reflected the scores and ranks at the beginning of the year, and we publish the July updated ranking each year to coincide with the summer holidays in the Northern Hemisphere when there is a significant uptick in travel,' she added.
In second place are Japan and South Korea, with access to 190 destinations. Seven European Union countries share third place with access to 189 destinations - Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain.
At the bottom of the list, Afghanistan remains in last place at 99th, with access to just 25 destinations. Syria is ranked 98th with 27 destinations, followed by Iraq at 97th with 30.
The index, launched in 2006, now covers 199 passports and 227 destinations.
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