The Henley Passport Index just released their annual authoritative passport study and the United States is in the top 10 best! Using International Air Transport Association (IATA) data and Henley & Partners’ research, the ranking is based off of the number of accessible destinations passport holders have without a previous visa.
In 2024, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain tied for the world’s most powerful passport. Holders within these countries have access to 194 destination.
The United States ranked as the seventh best passport in the world with access to 188 destinations. This is the United States’ second consecutive year in seventh place, after dropping from sixth place in 2022 to seventh in 2023. Unfortunately, the power of the United States passport has fluctuated and ultimately dropped in ranking between the past eight years when it was once fourth in the 2016 study. Yet at that time, it only granted access to 174 destinations.
When you compare the power of the current United States passport to a country’s that ranked first, such as France, the latter passport grants visa-free access to countries including Belarus, Brazil, China, Iran, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Vietnam that the United States passport does not.
When analyzing the United States passport in individual categories, it scored best for Climate Resilience and Business Opportunity. Whereas the France passport scored highest individually in Economic Mobility, Safety and Security, and Climate Resilience. However, the France passport scored 22 points lower in Business Opportunity than the United States.
Curious how to improve your global mobility? According to Henley & Partners, it will take residence and citizenship by investment. Learn more here.
With all this in mind, if you plan to travel to Europe in the near future, you’ll eventually need a special travel authorization to enter 30 European countries.