US Passport Drops From Top 10 Most Powerful For First Time—Here’s What That Means

What Makes Some Passports More Powerful Than Others?

For the first time in 20 years, the U.S. passport is not among the top 10 most powerful in the world. getty

Henley & Partners monitors which countries’ passports deliver the most and least global mobility, based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Global mobility is a key measure of soft power for citizens when they travel abroad. Citizens of Singapore—the No. 1 passport in the ranking—enjoy access to 193 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. The second most powerful passport in the world, South Korea, provides access to 190 destinations without a visa. The U.S. passport is just behind Lithuania and Iceland in the ranking.

Why Has The U.S. Passport Lost Power?

The United States’ “isolationist mindset is now being reflected in America’s loss of passport power,” Annie Pforzheimer, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a statement. More specifically, the United States’ ranking on the Henley index is suppressed by the country’s lack of reciprocity. While American passport holders can access 180 out of 227 destinations visa-free, the U.S. itself allows only 46 other nationalities to enter visa-free, putting it in 77th place on the Henley Openness Index, where it barely outpaces Iraq. Henley & Partners noted the United States’ slide this year began with America’s loss of visa-free access to Brazil in April due to a lack of reciprocity, exacerbated by being left out of China’s rapidly expanding visa-free list. “Most recently, Somalia’s launch of a new eVisa system and Vietnam’s decision to exclude the US from its latest visa-free additions delivered the final blow, pushing it out of the Top 10,” Henley said in a press release.

“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,” Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners, said in a statement. “Nations that embrace openness and cooperation are surging ahead, while those resting on past privilege are being left behind.”

Here Are The World’s Top 10 Most Powerful Passports

As ranked by the Henley Passport Index (countries accessible visa-free):

1. Singapore (193)

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, Czechia, Malta, Poland (185)

8. Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, UAE, United Kingdom (184)

9. Canada (183)

10. Latvia, Liechtenstein (182)

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