POWERFUL PASSPORTS

The most recent Henley & Partners Passport Index for 2024 shows the most powerful passports in the world from 199 different countries and 227 different travel destinations, ranking them quarterly in terms of travel power.

Each travel document was scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free.

South Africa placed 98th out of 199 countries with a visa-free score of 108.

That means there are 108 countries across the world that a South African passport holder can travel to visa-free.

Singapore has the most powerful passport in the world, with its citizens able to visit 195 visa-free travel destinations out of 227 around the world.

France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain all tied second for most powerful, with its citizens able to visit 194 visa-free travel destinations out of 227 around the world.

Each year, Henley & Partners releases their Passport Index, which essentially ranks the travel documents from all the different countries in the world and determines their power.

By ‘power’, the index refers to the ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

According to the factsheet:

“the index’s scoring system was developed to give users a practical, and reliable overview of their passport’s power. Each passport is scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free. For each travel destination, if no visa is required, then a score
of 1 is allocated for that passport. This also applies if passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) upon entry.”

THE MOST POWERFUL PASSPORT IN AFRICA

According to the Henley Passport Power Index, these ten countries ranked as the most powerful passports in Africa alone:

1. Mauritius
2. Seychelles
3. South Africa
4. Tunisia
5. Botswana
6. Lesotho
7. Morocco
8. eSwatini
9. Namibia
10. Cape Verde Islands

Mauritius is still the country with the most powerful passport in Africa, with a ranking of 40 and a visa-free score of 151.

Seychelles took the next spot with a ranking of 42 and a visa-free score of 156.

South Africa ranked as the third most powerful in Africa.