US Passport Falls from World’s Most Powerful to 9th Place Over the Past Decade

A decade ago, the United States passport was considered the most powerful travel document in the world, offering its holders unmatched access to global destinations with minimal visa restrictions. However, the latest report from the Henley & Partners Passport Index reveals a stark decline, with the US passport now ranked 9th globally. This marks a significant fall from its previous standing and highlights the shifting dynamics of global mobility.

The decline of the US passport has been gradual over the years. After being ranked 1st a decade ago, the passport slipped to 2nd place in 2015. By 2016, it dropped further to 4th place, and in 2017, it fell to 5th, where it remained in 2018. In 2019, the US passport ranked 6th, and in 2020, it slipped again to 7th. Last year, it held the 7th position before dropping to 9th in the latest rankings.

Despite this decline, the US passport remains one of the strongest in the world, offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 186 destinations. While these changes are unlikely to significantly affect travel to popular destinations, they may result in additional visa requirements for US citizens in certain regions.

Currently, the world’s most powerful passports are held by Singapore, with access to 195 destinations, followed by Japan with 193. Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and South Korea are tied for third place, each granting access to 192 destinations.

“Singapore and Japan break away from the group of six countries that shared the top spot last year to secure gold and silver, respectively, on the 2025 Henley Passport Index, which ranks all the world’s 199 passports according to the number of destinations they can access visa-free, based on exclusive Timatic data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Singapore reclaims its crown as the most powerful passport in the world with visa-free access to 195 out of 227 destinations worldwide, leaving Japan in the runner-up spot with a score of 193 but still ahead of the rest after it regained visa-free access to neighboring China for the first time since the COVID lockdowns,” stated a press release by Henley & Partners.

According to the index, several EU member states—France, Germany, Italy, and Spain—dropped two places in the ranking to 3rd position. They are joined by Finland and South Korea, which each lost one place over the past 12 months and now have access to 192 destinations with no prior visa required. A seven-nation EU cohort, all with visa-free access to 191 destinations—Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden—share 4th place, while five countries—Belgium, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, and the UK—come in 5th with 190 visa-free destinations.

The rest of the index’s top 10 is largely dominated by European countries, except for Australia (6th place with 189 destinations), Canada (7th place with 188 destinations), the US (9th place with 186 destinations), and the UAE, the first and only Arab state to make it into the upper echelons of the rankings. The UAE is one of the biggest climbers on the index over the past decade, having secured access to an additional 72 destinations since 2015, enabling it to climb 32 places to 10th spot with visa-free access to 185 destinations worldwide.

US and UK passports are among the biggest fallers according to the index. Only 22 of the world’s 199 passports have dropped in the Henley Passport Index rankings over the past decade. Surprisingly, the US is the second-biggest faller between 2015 and 2025, after Venezuela, plummeting seven places from 2nd to its current 9th position. Vanuatu is the third-biggest faller, losing six places from 48th to 54th, followed by the British passport, which was at the top of the index in 2015 but now sits in 5th place. Completing the top five losers list is Canada, which dropped three ranks over the past decade from 4th to its current 7th place, according to the press release.

In contrast, China is among the biggest climbers over the past decade, rising from 94th place in 2015 to 60th in 2025, with its visa-free score increasing by 40 destinations in that time. In terms of openness to other nations, China has also risen on the Henley Openness Index, which ranks all 199 countries and territories worldwide according to the number of nationalities they permit entry to without a prior visa. Over the past year, China granted visa-free access to an additional 29 countries, climbing to 80th position with visa-free entry to 58 nations as of 2025. In comparison, the US ranks 84th, allowing visa-free entry to just 46 countries.