Singapore's passport has once again been named the World's Strongest Passport for 2024. The strength of the Singapore passport allows its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 194 out of 227 destinations worldwide. This is the highest number ever recorded in the history of the Henley Passport Index, which has been tracking global travel freedom for 19 years.
In addition to Singapore, five other countries - France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain - share the top spot with visa-free access to 194 countries.
Singapore has been consistently tied for the top spot with Japan for the past five years. Singapore demonstrated its dominance by taking first place in 2019, 2021, and 2023. Meanwhile, it had to settle for second place in 2018, 2020, and 2022.
Japan, on the other hand, topped the rankings from 2018 to 2022. However, it dropped to second place in 2023.
Meanwhile, Europe has seen an interesting shift in power. Finland and Sweden, with visa-free access to 193 countries, have moved up to second place alongside South Korea. They are followed by Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands in third place (192 destinations).
Visa-free travel is undoubtedly a significant advantage for passport holders from these countries. They can more easily explore the world without the hassle of obtaining visas.
List of the world's highest passport rankings:
- France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain (194 destinations)
- Finland, South Korea, Sweden (193 destinations)
- Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands (192 destinations)
- Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom (191 destinations)
- Greece, Malta, Switzerland (190 destinations)
How About Other Southeast Asian Countries?
Among other Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia ranks 13th with 183 destinations, Brunei Darussalam ranks 22nd (168 destinations), Timor-Leste ranks 55th (97 destinations), Thailand ranks 63rd (83 destinations), and Indonesia ranks 68th (78 destinations).
Although global mobility has generally increased over the past two decades, the gap between countries at the top and bottom of the Passport Index has widened. This was highlighted by Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and creator of the Passport Index.
The highest-ranking countries, such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea, now have visa-free access to more than 190 destinations. On the other hand, countries at the bottom of the index, such as Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Pakistan, have visa-free access to only 28 to 34 destinations.
This shows that freedom to travel remains a privilege for a select few around the world.
The Henley Passport Index, produced by Henley & Partners, is one of the most respected indices that evaluates the strength of passports based on the visa-free access they provide to their holders.
The Index uses exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and is regularly updated to reflect changes in visa policies around the world.
