The Henley Passport Index for 2025 has revealed the global passport rankings for every country, differing from the data of the previous year. Henley ranks all the world’s 199 passports based on the number of destinations they allow visa-free access to. This index is based on exclusive Timatic data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
In 2025, Singapore and Japan break away from the group of six countries that shared the top spot last year, securing gold and silver positions, respectively. Several European Union member states, including France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, drop two places to third position. They are joined by Finland and South Korea, both of which lost a place over the past year and now have access to 192 destinations.
The fourth place is shared by a seven-nation EU cohort, all with visa-free access to 191 destinations — Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.
On the other end of the spectrum, Afghanistan remains firmly at the bottom of the Henley Passport Index, having lost visa-free access to two more destinations over the past year. With Singaporeans able to travel to 169 more destinations visa-free than Afghan passport holders, this creates the largest mobility gap in the index’s 19-year history.
Additionally, European countries dominate the rest of the Top 10, except for Australia (sixth place, 189 destinations), Canada (seventh place, 188 destinations), the US (ninth place, 186 destinations), and the UAE, the first and only Arab state to make it into the upper echelons of the rankings.
The UAE has been one of the biggest climbers on the index over the past decade, securing access to an additional 72 destinations since 2015. This has allowed it to climb 32 spots to the 10th position with visa-free access to 185 destinations worldwide.
Biggest Fallers Moreover, only 22 of the world’s 199 passports have fallen in the Henley Passport Index ranking over the past decade. The US is the second-biggest faller from 2015 to 2025, dropping seven places from second to its current ninth position.
Vanuatu, losing six places from 48th to 54th, ranks as the third-biggest faller, followed by the British passport, which was at the top of the index in 2015 but now holds the fifth position.
Canada also ranks in the Top 5 losers, dropping three places from fourth to seventh over the past decade.
Schengen Visa Rejection Rate Henley also disclosed the Schengen visa rejection rates. While globally only one in six applications is rejected, one in two African applicants is rejected.
Among the top 10 countries with the highest Schengen visa rejection rates, six are from Africa. Comoros leads with a 61.3% rejection rate, followed by Guinea-Bissau at 51%, Ghana at 47.5%, Mali at 46.1%, Sudan at 42.3%, and Senegal at 41.2%. Additionally, three Asian countries and one European country make up the list: Pakistan with 49.6%, Syria with 46%, and Bangladesh with 43.3%. Greece, despite being an EU member, has the second-highest rejection rate at 56.4%.
