South Africa’s passport power has decreased yet again, according to the latest Henley Passport Index, which revealed the newest rankings of all of the world’s passports for 2025.
The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their passport-holders can travel to visa-free.
“With historical data spanning 19 years, the Henley Passport Index is the only one of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.” Henley & Partners says.
SA passport drops another spot
According to these rankings, the SA passport has dropped another spot from 50 to 51 on the list of 199 passports.
The index also highlighted that South Africans can now only travel to 103 destinations, after losing visa-free travel access to Nigeria. South Africans travelling to this African nation will now require an e-visa for entry.
The top passports of the world
Here are is the updated list of the top five most powerful passports:
| Rank | Country | Number of visa-free countries |
| 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 |
| 4 | Portugal | 188 |
| 4 | Sweden | 188 |
| 5 | Greece | 187 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 187 |
| 5 | Switzerland | 187 |
What’s the most you spent on a visa to visit a country?
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