A country’s strong passport offers greater travel freedom, lower costs, and easier global mobility for work, study, and leisure. Let’s see which countries have the most powerful passports in 2025, which determines how many countries a passport holder can visit without a visa.
This ranking was created by Visual Capitalist based on data from Henley & Partners.
Asian passports occupy the top spot
Singapore ranks first with visa-free access to more than 190 countries out of 227 destinations worldwide, followed by Japan and South Korea, representing Asia. On the other hand, Japan regained visa-free access to neighboring China for the first time since the COVID-19 lockdown.
Germany and France, which retained the top spot in the passport ranking in 2024, have now dropped to third place.
| Rank | Country | Visa-Free Access |
| 1 | Singapore | 193 |
| 2 | Japan | 190 |
| 2 | South Korea | 190 |
| 3 | Denmark | 189 |
| 3 | Finland | 189 |
| 3 | France | 189 |
| 3 | Germany | 189 |
| 3 | Ireland | 189 |
| 3 | Italy | 189 |
| 3 | Spain | 189 |
| 4 | Austria | 188 |
| 4 | Belgium | 188 |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 188 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 188 |
| 4 | Norway | 188 |
Europe leads the top spots
The strongest passport rankings on the list include European countries, with third-placed Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain having passports with visa-free access to 189 countries. And the passports of Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway in fourth place have visa-free access to 188 countries.
Where is the U.S. passport?
Noticeably absent from the top ranking and down from its traditional first or second place a decade ago, U.S. passport holders can now travel to 183 destinations without a visa, according to Visual Capitalist.
On the other hand, slightly ahead of the U.S. in the ranking, Canada has 185, the UK has 186, and Australia has 186 visa-free destinations.
Another Asian country, India, ranks 80th and has visa-free access to 56 countries, which is far behind.
Visa-free access means passport holders don’t have to wait in long lines at border control and don’t need to share their confidential information with authorities, helping you travel more spontaneously.
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