Singapore Passports Are Number 1 For Visa-Free Travel Status; US Drops

Editorial Staff

24 July 2024

When measured by holding visa-free travel access, Singapore’s passport has reclaimed its title as the most powerful document of its kind, according to an index issued this week.

Singapore citizens can enter 195 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain drop to joint-second place, each with visa-free access to 192 destinations, according to the Henley Passport Index, issued by , a firm advising people about citizenship and migration.

The findings appear in the July 2024 edition of the Henley Global Mobility Report.

“The general trend over the past two decades has been towards greater travel freedom, with the global average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024,” Dr Christian H Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, said. “However, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than it has ever been, with top-ranked Singapore able to access a record-breaking 169 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan.”

In third place, the report said, each with access to 191 destinations without a prior visa, are Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden. Data was taken from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The findings come at a time when demand for visa-free access is likely to remain strong in geopolitically and economically volatile times.

The UK is in fourth place along with Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland, despite its visa-free destination score falling to 190.

The US continues its now decade-long slide down the index, dropping down to eighth spot, with access to 186 destinations visa-free. Former passport powerhouses, the UK and the US jointly held first place on the index 10 years ago in 2014.

At the bottom of the heap is Afghanistan, firmly entrenched as the world’s weakest passport, losing access to yet another destination over the past six months, leaving its citizens with access to only 26 countries visa-free – the lowest score ever recorded in the history of the 19-year-old index.

The UAE makes it into the Top 10 for the first time, having added an impressive 152 destinations since the index’s inception in 2006 to achieve its current visa-free score of 185, and rising a remarkable 53 places in the ranking from 62nd to ninth position.

China and Ukraine are among the Top 10 countries which have climbed the highest in the ranking over the past decade. Since 2014, China has jumped up 24 places from 83rd to 59th (with access to 85 destinations visa-free), while Ukraine has advanced by 23 spots, from 53rd to 30th, with its nationals able to visit 148 destinations without a prior visa. Russia, on the other hand, has fallen seven places over the past 10 years, from 38th to 45th position (with visa-free access to just 116 destinations).

The biggest drop over the last decade was Venezuela, which has plunged 17 places from 25th to 42nd on the Henley Passport Index.

Airlines soar
The Henley report also mentions the renewed vigour of the aviation and global travel sector – often a marker for globalisation more broadly.

Airlines will connect nearly five billion people over 22,000 routes on 39 million flights in 2024; the air cargo transported will reach 62 million tonnes, facilitating $8.3 trillion in trade, the report said, citing figures from IATA. However, Willie Walsh, IATA director general, was quoted by Henley as saying that despite the immense value generated by the aviation industry, the margins are tight.

Walsh is quoted saying that the airline industry expects to record revenues of almost $1 trillion this year. Expenses, however, will also be at a record high of $936 billion, creating a net profit of $30.5 billion. This translates to a modest net margin of around 3 per cent, making the profit per passenger $6.14. Additionally, this year, the return on invested capital is projected at 5.7 per cent, below the average 9 per cent cost of capital. Despite this, the real cost of air travel has fallen 34 per cent over the last decade.”