As usual, Henley & Partners, the world’s leading British residency and citizenship by investment firm, has updated its Henley Passport Index (HPI) ranking, which ranks the passports of countries and territories around the world according to the number of destinations without visa on arrival.
To establish its ranking, Henley & Partners uses data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which brings together around 290 carriers in 120 countries accounting for nearly 84% of global air traffic.
Henley Passport Index puts all 199 passports and 227 travel destinations side by side. For each passport, a score of value 1 is given if no visa is required, or if its holder can obtain a visa on arrival (VoA), visitor permit or electronic travel authorization (ETA) when his entry into the country of destination.
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When a visa is required or when a passport holder must obtain a government-approved electronic visa (e-Visa) before departure, a score of 0 is assigned to the passport. This is also the case if the passport holder requires approval from the government of the destination country before departure for a visa on arrival.
So the total score for each passport is equal to the number of destinations for which no visa is required.
Based on this calculation method of Henley Passport Index 2025, it is the Singapore passport which rises to first place in the world with 195 visa-free destinations out of a total of 227. It is ahead of those of Japan (193 visa-free destinations) , Finland (192), France (192) and Germany (192).
On the African continent, passports are relatively weak offering few visa-free destinations outside the continent, with a few exceptions.
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Some countries continue to improve their score from year to year, as is the case of Morocco which went from 79th in the world with 64 visa-free destinations in 2022 to 69th in the world in 2025 with 73 visa-free destinations. The Kingdom thus joins the Top 10 most powerful passports in Africa in 2025 and first in North Africa, including Egypt.
Morocco’s passport: 10th in Africa and 69th in the world with 73 visa-free destinations, according to the Henley Passport Index 2025 ranking.. DR
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Another notable data, the Top 10, apart from Morocco, is dominated by the countries of Southern and Eastern Africa. It is the Seychellois passport which retains its title, offering its holder the possibility of traveling to 156 destinations without a visa.
A position which can be explained by at least two factors. Firstly, the Seychelles archipelago offers visa-free access to nationals of all foreign countries. As a result, many countries grant it reciprocity. Then, being populated by just over 120,000 inhabitants, there is no risk of a flow of Seychellois migrants to be feared by other countries. Hence the visa-free access offered to nationals of this country, one of the least populated in the world.
Just behind the Seychelles, follows the Mauritius passport which offers its holder the possibility of traveling to 151 destinations without a visa, thus ranking 29th in the world.
These two African countries have more powerful passports than those of countries like Turkey (46th in the world, 116 visa-free destinations) and Qatar (47th, 112), Saudi Arabia (58th, 87), China (60th, 85th )…
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Far behind follow South Africa (48th, 106 visa-free destinations), Botswana (57th, 88), Namibia (62nd, 81), Lesotho (64th, 79), eSwatini (65th, 77), Malawi (67th, 75), Kenya (68th, 74), Morocco (69th, 73) and Tanzania (69th, 73).
Top 10 African passports offering the greatest number of destinations accessible without a visa
| Pays | Number of destinations sense show | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Seychelles | 156 | 25e |
| Maurice | 151 | 29e |
| South Africa | 106 | 48e |
| Botswana | 88 | 57e |
| Namibia | 81 | 62e |
| Lesotho | 79 | 64e |
| eSwatini | 77 | 65e |
| Malawi | 75 | 67e |
| Kenya | 74 | 68e |
| Morocco | 73 | 69e |
| Tanzania | 73 | 69e |
Source: Henley&Partners
Note that at the bottom of the ranking of the lowest passports are Iraq (31 visa-free destinations), Syria (27) and Afghanistan (26). On the African side, Eritrea (98th, 42 visa-free destinations), Libya (100th, 40) and Somalia (102nd, 35) have the lowest passports.
