America’s passport is no longer as powerful as before
A new list of Henley Passport Index (Henley Passport Index 2025) has come out to estimate which country’s influence in the world and how much respect each country has. It can also be called a ‘report card’ of the strength of the passport. The more powerful the passport of a country is, the more countries its people can visit directly without taking a visa i.e. without taking prior permission.
This year’s list has shocked everyone, because the country which considers itself the biggest Chaudhary in the world, i.e. America, has suffered a major blow to its prestige. This is the first time in 20 years that America has been out of the list of the 10 most powerful passports in the world. Here, there is no good news for India, our ranking has also fallen lower than before.
America’s power has diminished
There was a time when an American passport meant that most of the world’s doors were open for you. But that is no longer the case. America’s name has also dropped to 10th position in the 2025 list of Henley Passport Index. The simple reason for this is that now many countries are not giving America the same attention as before.
Like Brazil clearly said that, when you get visas for our people to come to your country, we will also get visas from your people. Meaning equal calculation. Similarly, China opened its doors to many European countries and said that you can visit us without a visa, but America was not invited in this. Some other small countries also tightened their rules for America. Meaning, the countries which earlier used to salute America, are now looking at it. Because of this the validity of his passport reduced.
At the same time, China has improved its ranking significantly in the last 10 years. While it was at 94th position in 2015, it has now reached 64th position in 2025. Chinese citizens can now visit 37 countries more easily.
India’s condition is also bad
Now let us come to the matter of our country. India’s passport has also slipped five places in this new list. Last year we were at number 80, and now we have come at number 85. This simply means that now we, the Indian people, can go to only 57 countries of the world without taking a visa beforehand. Although a few months ago our ranking had improved and we had reached number 77, but now there has been a decline again. This may cause some disappointment to those who dream of traveling or working outside.
These countries dominate
On one hand, old powerful countries like America and England are slipping, while on the other hand, small countries of Asia are making noise. Singapore is at the top of this list, i.e. at number one. Anyone who holds a Singapore passport can travel to 193 countries of the world without any restrictions.
Right behind Singapore are South Korea (190 countries) and Japan (189 countries). This means that the three most powerful passports in the world are now held by the countries of Asia.
List of most powerful passports of 2025
(Visa-free or visa on arrival depending on the number of countries)
- Singapore-193 countries
- South Korea- 190 countries
- Japan-189 countries
- Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland -188 countries
- Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands – 187 countries
- Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden – 186 countries
- Australia, Czech Republic, Malta, Poland – 185 countries
- Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom (UK) -184 countries
- Canada-183 countries
- Latvia, Liechtenstein -182 countries
- Iceland, Lithuania – 181 countries
- United States of America, Malaysia-180 countries