The world’s most powerful passports for 2024 are revealed

The world’s most powerful passports for 2024 have been revealed — with the biggest shake-up in rankings we’ve seen in several years, including a never-before-seen six nations in first place.

The annual Henley Passport Index ranks passports using data from the International Air Transport Association. The index looks at 199 national passports, which are then scored based on how many visa-free destinations the passports provide access to.

Scores are based on the number of countries you’re able to access without visas as follows:

• If no visa is required, a value of 1 is added to the score for that passport. The same applies if you can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit or an electronic travel authority when entering the destination.
• Where a visa is required or where a passport holder has to obtain a government-approved e-visa before departure, a value of 0 is added to the score. This also applies if you need predeparture government approval for a visa on arrival.

In recent years, there has been little change in the rankings, with Japan retaining the top spot five years in a row. However, this year, Japan shares first place with France, Germany, Italy, Singapore and Spain.

Related: The 13 places you need a visa to travel with an American passport

Each nation’s passport allows visa-free access to 194 destinations out of 227 around the world.

Just missing out on entry to the top position are South Korea, Finland and Sweden, which allow passport holders to access 193 destinations visa-free.

The United States held steady in seventh place — providing access to 188 destinations without visa requirements. Faring slightly better was the United Kingdom, which rose two places in the ranking to the fourth spot alongside Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway and Portugal — each allowing access to 191 nations.

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Elsewhere, the United Arab Emirates remains the biggest climber in rankings over the past decade, adding a weighty 106 destinations to its score since 2014 and leaping 44 places from 55th to 11th in the same period.

Ukraine and China have also seen impressive gains over the last decade, gaining 21 places each and moving two more places in the past year — placing Ukraine 32nd with 148 visa-free destinations and China 62nd with 85 destinations. Conversely, while Russia has added 24 new visa-free destinations to its score in the last 10 years, its overall ranking has barely moved since 2017, and the nation currently sits at 51st place.

Afghanistan has the least powerful passport to hold, providing visa-free access to just 28 destinations.

“The average number of destinations travelers are able to access visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024,” Dr. Christian H. Kalin, chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, said. “However, as we enter the new year, the top-ranked countries are now able to travel to a staggering 166 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom of the ranking with access to just 28 countries without a visa.”