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U.S. Passport Falls Out of Global Top 10 for the First Time in 20 Years

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For the first time in two decades, the U.S. passport no longer ranks among the world’s ten most powerful, according to the Henley Passport Index, which measures how freely citizens can travel without a visa.

The 2025 ranking crowns Singapore, South Korea, and Japan as the most travel-friendly passports, offering their holders visa-free entry to 193, 190, and 189 destinations, respectively. The United States, by contrast, has fallen to 12th place, tied with Malaysia, granting visa-free access to 180 of the 227 destinations tracked by Henley & Partners.

The London-based firm compiles the index using data from the International Air Transport Association, and because countries with equal scores share a single rank, the U.S. passport technically trails 36 other nations this year.

Back in 2014, the U.S. topped the chart. Even as recently as mid-2025, it managed to cling to the top 10. But a series of shifting visa policies worldwide has changed the landscape dramatically.

Brazil’s decision in April to revoke visa-free access for Americans, Canadians, and Australians, citing a lack of reciprocity, dealt an early blow. Meanwhile, China has been opening its doors wider, granting visa exemptions to European nations like Germany and France, but not to the United States. Papua New Guinea and Myanmar have also made entry rule changes that improved their own standings while pushing the U.S. further down.

According to Henley’s report, the latest setback came when Somalia launched a new eVisa system and Vietnam excluded the U.S. from its latest batch of visa-free additions.

“The declining strength of the US passport over the past decade is more than just a reshuffle in rankings — it signals a fundamental shift in global mobility and soft power dynamics,” said Christian H. Kaelin, chair of Henley & Partners.

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“Nations that embrace openness and cooperation are surging ahead, while those resting on past privilege are being left behind.”

The United Kingdom, which topped the index in 2015, has also reached its lowest-ever position, falling from 6th to 8th since July. In contrast, several countries have made rapid climbs. China has jumped from 94th place in 2015 to 64th today, gaining visa-free access to 37 new destinations.

Henley attributes that rise to Beijing’s expanding diplomatic outreach, including visa-free deals with Russia, Gulf states, South America, and Europe. The United Arab Emirates is another success story, soaring 34 spots over the last decade—from No. 42 to No. 8—thanks to a slew of reciprocal agreements.

At the other end of the spectrum sits Afghanistan, holding last place at No. 106, with visa-free access to just 24 destinations, down two since the start of the year. Syria (26) and Iraq (29) follow just above it. That leaves a 169-country gap between the most and least mobile passports on earth.

Henley’s current top 12 are as follows:

  1. Singapore (193 destinations)
  2. South Korea (190)
  3. Japan (189)
  4. Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland (188)
  5. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands (187)
  6. Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden (186)
  7. Australia, Czech Republic, Malta, Poland (185)
  8. Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, UAE, UK (184)
  9. Canada (183)
  10. Latvia, Liechtenstein (182)
  11. Iceland, Lithuania (181)
  12. United States, Malaysia (180)

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Back in July, CNN Business editor-at-large Richard Quest noted that new entry requirements, such as ESTAs in the European Union and the UK, were further limiting Americans’ mobility.

“Can we make a linkage, if you will, to immigration policies of the Trump administration? Yes, you probably can, at some level, say there is a direct relation between one and the other.”

Still, he said, elite passports remain coveted assets. “There are certainly citizenships that give greater access and availability to travel,” Quest explained. Wealthy individuals often pursue such documents through investment schemes—like the $5 million “gold card” program once floated by Donald Trump.

“But for the average person, it’s not a jot of difference. You’ve got your passport, you’ve got where you are. Learn and live with it.”

The Henley Passport Index isn’t the only global mobility scoreboard. Financial consultancy Arton Capital publishes its own Global Passport Power Rank, updated in real time by tracking government portals. Arton’s 2025 ranking currently puts the United Arab Emirates in first place, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 179, followed by Singapore and Spain (each at 175).

Where Can US Citizens Travel Without A Visa?

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While international travel is likely the last thing on all of our minds thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the rolling out of multiple vaccines and promise of new health and safety procedure enforcement from the president-elects administration gives us the freedom to start fantasizing about what we want to do once this pandemic is truly over. 

Before you take any international flight in a non-pandemic context, there are a few things that you’ll need to consider. One of the biggest is if you’ll need a visa to enter the country you want to go to. While current restrictions exist due to the pandemic, others have always existed when it comes to allowing international travelers in. 

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US citizens with passports typically don’t need a visa to enter most countries around the globe; it’s believed that American citizens have some of the world’s most powerful passports in terms of access. In fact, the Henley and Partners Passport Index ranked the US passport as seventh on its 2020 list of the world’s best passports, as it allows citizens visa-free access to 185 countries; this includes countries that require Electronic Travel Authorization or a visa upon arrival to the country. 

Americans with a passport can travel to a majority of countries in Europe, the Caribbean, and Central/South America. Countries like Russia, India, China, Vietnam, Turkey, and many others require American citizens to have at least an e-visa to visit, regardless of if they have a passport or not. 

Luckily, the Henley and Partners Passport Index provide an easy searching tool for Americans to see where they can travel throughout the world without needing a visa. Users can simply log in and select the country that their passport is from (in this case the US) and the Index will provide you with a list of countries that you are able to visit. 

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The US Department of State Travel also provides an easy-to-use tool on their site that allows users to simply search a country by name to see the visa requirements they would need to visit. Even countries that allow Americans to travel there without a visa have restrictions on the length of time one is allowed to stay.

You can use both of the websites above to receive information about specific countries and their restrictions on things like length of stay, visa requirements, and cost for those visa requirements. More times than not getting a visa to visit a foreign country can be a lengthy and expensive process, so individuals tend to do it months in advance of their trip. 

The future of these requirements will also likely depend on how every country recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently there are a multitude of countries that prohibit American tourists from visiting due to the severity of the pandemic in this country. Click here for a list of countries that are currently allowing American travelers to visit, and in the meantime start planning for a Covid-free future.