These 6 Passports Are the Most Powerful in 2024

There's a new six-way tie for first place in an annual global travel ranking.

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain, have all tied as having the top passport in the world, measured by providing visa-free access to 194 countries with their respective passports, according to the newest Henley Passport Index.

The annual report measures the flexibility of visa-free travel and has become a popular list among global travelers. For comparison, in 2023, only Japan was crowned with the top spot when it provided access to 193 countries. 

The rankings analyze how many countries a traveler can visit without needing a visa or additional documentation. In addition to Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen all ranked 100th or higher, with the least restrictive passports. 

Travelers from the United States can take appreciation that an American passport is still helpful around the world, tying with Canada and Hungary for the 7th spot with access to 188 different countries. 

“The average number of destinations travelers are able to access visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024,” says the inventor of the passport index, Henley & Partners Chairman Dr. Christian H. Kaelin. “However, as we enter the new year, the top-ranked countries are now able to travel to a staggering 166 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom of the ranking with access to just 28 countries without a visa.”

Other notable changes in the passport index include that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has jumped the highest in the last decade, with the addition of 106 visa-free countries to their passport since 2014. The firm who produced the report encourages travelers to verify the visa requirements for each individual country, as they can sometimes change. 

While travelers may have experienced delays in obtaining a new passport, or renewing a current one, wait times have returned back to normal, pre-pandemic levels, as of December 2023.