The U.S. has dropped out of the Top 10 in the rankings of the world’s “most powerful passports” for the first time in the 20-year history of a widely respected index.
Back in 2014, the American passport was unrivalled at No. 1, but it has now slumped from 10th place earlier this year to 12th in the Henley Passport Index, tied with Malaysia.
Where a country stands in the ranking — powered by data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) — depends on how many destinations its citizens can visit visa-free. American passport holders can access only 180 of 227 places worldwide without a prior visa.
The decline of the U.S. passport and its fall from 10th to 12th position has been driven by a series of access changes, explained Henley & Partners.
The loss of visa-free access to Brazil in April due to a lack of reciprocity, and the U.S. being left out of China’s rapidly expanding visa-free list, marked the start of its downward slide.
This was followed by adjustments from Papua New Guinea and Myanmar, which further eroded the U.S. score while boosting other passports.
Most recently, Somalia’s launch of a new eVisa system and Vietnam’s decision to exclude the U.S. from its latest visa-free additions delivered the final blow, pushing it out of the top 10.
The U.S. also fares poorly on the Henley Openness Index, which measures how many nationalities a country admits visa-free. Allowing only 46 nationalities to enter without a visa places the U.S. 77th out of 199.
The top three spots in the main passport-power ranking are occupied by Singapore (access to 193 destinations visa-free), South Korea (190), and Japan (189).
Tied in fourth are Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland, while Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland and the Netherlands are tied in fifth.
The UK passport has fallen to its lowest-ever position on the index, slipping two places since July, from sixth to eighth place, despite also once holding the top spot (in 2015).
Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and creator of the Henley Passport Index, commented: “The declining strength of the U.S. passport over the past decade is more than just a reshuffle in rankings — it signals a fundamental shift in global mobility and soft power dynamics. Nations that embrace openness and cooperation are surging ahead, while those resting on past privilege are being left behind.”
