The world's most powerful passports in 2021

A passport's power is usually measured by how far it lets its holder roam without asking permission first. On that measure, as of early 2021 the Japanese passport was the strongest in the world — even as a pandemic quietly made the ranking almost meaningless at the border.

Interactive globe — the current Henley Passport Index (2026 edition). Hover or tap a country for its visa-free count and world rank.

The numbers come from the Henley Passport Index, published by Henley & Partners, which scores 199 passports by the count of destinations their holders can enter visa-free or with a visa on arrival, drawing on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). It is the same index this blog used to rank passports back in 2017, which makes the three-year shift easy to read.

At the top of the early-2021 table, Japan led with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 191 destinations — its third straight year at, or joint-first for, number one. Singapore followed on 190, and Germany and South Korea shared third place on 189. Italy, Spain, Finland and Luxembourg came next on 188. The gap between the strongest and weakest passports remained stark: Afghanistan sat at the bottom, its holders able to reach just 26 destinations without a prior visa.

An east–west split at the top

Plotted on a map, the 2021 ranking showed a clear divide in travel freedom. Passports from East Asia, the European Union and a handful of wealthy states clustered at the strong end, while much of Central Asia, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa sat well down the table. The four strongest passports — Japan, Singapore, Germany and South Korea — were separated by only two destinations, but more than 160 destinations of access separated the top passport from Afghanistan at the foot of the list.

Henley & Partners framed early 2021 as a moment when the Asia-Pacific region looked set to emerge first from the pandemic, and its passports reflected that: Japan, Singapore and South Korea between them held three of the top three positions. Iraq and Syria sat just above Afghanistan at the bottom of the table, on 28 and 29 destinations respectively — a reminder that the weakest passports change little from year to year, while the contest for the top shuffles constantly.

Japan held the world's most powerful passport for a third straight year — yet during the pandemic even 191 visa-free destinations meant little at a closed border.

Why the 2021 ranking came with an asterisk

The headline figures describe visa policy in normal times, not the reality of 2021. The Henley Passport Index counts long-standing visa agreements; it does not adjust for temporary, pandemic-driven entry bans. Because those bans were nearly universal in early 2021, the practical value of even a top-tier passport collapsed.

Henley & Partners spelled this out plainly. Without temporary restrictions, holders of the strongest passports could in theory reach well over 180 destinations. In practice, travellers from both the United States and United Kingdom faced major restrictions from more than 100 countries — US passport holders could enter fewer than 75 destinations, and UK holders fewer than 70. A powerful passport had, for the moment, stopped being a golden ticket.

The biggest movers since 2019

Looking at the two years to early 2021, the largest gains and losses tracked geopolitics and diplomacy rather than the pandemic. The standout climbers were Qatar and Poland, each of which added nine visa-free destinations. The Gulf states more broadly kept improving: Saudi Arabia gained seven and the United Arab Emirates six over the same window.

At the other end, Venezuela lost five visa-free destinations, the steepest decline of any passport, reflecting the country's continuing political and economic crisis. A scattering of Latin American and Pacific passports also slipped by one or two destinations.

What changed since 2017

The shift from this blog's 2017 ranking is the clearest sign of how quickly the top can move. In 2017 the German passport held first place; by early 2021 Germany had slipped to a shared third while Japan and Singapore pulled ahead. The lesson holds from one edition to the next: passport power is not fixed. Visa agreements are negotiated, suspended and restored constantly, and — as 2021 showed most sharply — a ranking built on policy can be overtaken overnight by events on the ground.

How the index is built

• Each passport earns one point per destination its holders can enter without a prior visa.
• Visa-on-arrival and straightforward e-visas count the same as full visa-free entry.
• Scores draw on IATA travel-information data, enhanced by Henley & Partners research.
• The index reflects standing visa policy only — it does not capture temporary or emergency border closures.

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