The Henley Passport Index is a global ranking of countries released every year, according to the travel freedom allowed by those countries' ordinary passports for their citizens. In 2005, it was launched as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index and was updated to Henley Passport Index in January 2018.
The Henley Passport Index has released the list of countries with the most powerful passports in the world for 2025. This ranking is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). These rankings state which country's passport provides access to visa-free travel.
Singapore has secured the first position in this year's list as it allows to enjoy 195 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. Meanwhile, India's ranking has dropped. India has secured 85th position this year. The Indian passport allows visa-free travel to 57 countries. Last year, India was ranked 80th.
Top 10 countries with the most visa-free travel destinations:
- Singapore - 195 countries
- Japan - 193 countries
- Finland – 192 countries
- France - 192 countries
- Germany – 192 countries
- Italy - 192 countries
- South Korea - 192 countries
- Spain – 192 countries
- Austria - 191 countries
- Denmark - 191 countries
Annie Pforzheimer, Senior Associate at Washington talked about U.S. passport’s decline in power and said, “Even though U.S. economic health relies heavily on immigration, tourism, and trade, voters, during the 2024 presidential campaign were fed a narrative that America can (and should) stand alone. Ultimately, if tariffs and deportations are the Trump administration’s default policy tools, not only will the U.S. continue to decline on the mobility index on a comparative basis, but it will probably do so in absolute terms as well. This trend in tandem with China’s greater openness will likely give rise to Asia’s greater soft power dominance worldwide.”
CEO Dr. Juerg Steffen said, “Faced with unprecedented volatility, investors and wealthy families are adopting a strategy of geopolitical arbitrage to acquire additional residence and/or citizenship options to hedge against jurisdictional risk and leverage the differences in legal, economic, political, and social conditions across countries to optimize their personal, financial, and lifestyle outcomes.”