The London Henley & Partners firm has just published the July 2025 edition of its ranking that measures the “power” of passports. If Singapore continues to reach its maximum point, France loses its place as a leader and is in third place.
France loses its first place and Singapore consolidates its status
Beyond its practical utility for international travelers and investors, the Henley passport index is also an instrument for geopolitical analysis. It is based on a point system. Each passport receives a point for each accessible country without prior visa. On the contrary, a destination that requires an electronic visa approved before the output leads to a zero score. This classification is based on 199 passports, 227 destinations and is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In July 2025, the map of travel freedom continues to evolve, revealing contrasting dynamics and transformations in depth in international order.
Already at the top of the podium in 2024, Singapore won again in 2025 as the most powerful passport in the world, offering access without visa to 193 destinations from 227. The holders of the Singapore passport benefit from an almost planetary mobility. Japan and South Korea are in the second position with 190 destinations.
The third place between seven European countries is shared: France Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Denmark and Finland, all with 189 destinations without visa. France, which was still at the top of the Ex-Aequo classification with other countries in January 2024, slides this year in third position. The French passport allowed access to 194 destinations without visa, now it was only 189.
He is still the same among the most powerful passports in the world, but gives way to Singapore, now only in mind. This decrease illustrates a slight loss of influence in the field of international mobility, although France retains a very favorable position on a global scale.
The fourth and fifth place in the ranking are dominated by European countries, with in particular the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Norway and Greece.
Decline for the United States and the United Kingdom
Previously considered one of the most powerful passports in the world, the United States is now in the tenth place, with 182 destinations without visa, and even, according to Henley & Partners, to leave the top 10 for the first time in 20 years. A symbolic threshold. The same story for the United Kingdom, which goes from the room to sixth place between January 2024 and July 2025.
On the side of the nations in ascension, India is distinguished with a remarkable progression: it goes from 85 to 77th place in six months according to Henley & Partners. During the last decade, it is all the United Arab Emirates that impress, winning 34 places to now integrate the world Top 10, a unique feat according to a Henley & Partners analysis. China also rises in the ranking. Since 2016, the country has gone from 87th place to 60º in the ranking in 2025, with 83 accessible destinations without visa.
At the opposite end in the ranking, Afghanistan remains at the end and is classified in the 99th position, with only 25 accessible destinations without visa. In the lower part of the classification of the “most powerful passports in the world”, there are also countries such as Syria in 98 or Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan in the 96th place. This position illustrates the heavy geopolitical and diplomatic consequences that weigh in certain states weakened by conflicts or international isolation.
July 2025 classification: the 10 best
- Singapore (193 destinations)
- Japan, South Korea (190 destinations)
- Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain (189 destinations)
- Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden (188 destinations)
- Greece, New Zealand, Switzerland (187 destinations)
- United Kingdom (186 destinations)
- Australia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland (185 destinations)
- Canada, Estonia, United Arab Emirates (184 destinations)
- Croatia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (183 destinations)
- United States, Iceland, Lithuania (182 destinations)
Source: BFM TV
