SA passport rises in global ranking – What this means for travellers
The South African passport has strengthened and climbed the 2025 Henley & Partners Passport Index. Here’s what you need to know…
The latest Henley Passport Index has upgraded South Africa’s passport power, revealing its new global ranking for 2025.
Henley & Partners created the index as the original and authoritative ranking of global passports based on how many destinations their holders can enter without a visa.
“With historical data spanning 19 years, the Henley Passport Index is the only one of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.” Henley & Partners says.
SA passport moves up 3 spots
According to these rankings, the SA passport has moved up three spots from 51 to 48 on the list of 199 passports.
Despite the increased power, the index highlighted that South Africans can still only travel to 103 destinations.
The top passports of the world
Here is the updated list of the top five most powerful passports:
| Rank | Country | Number of visa-free countries |
| 1 | Singapore | 193 |
| 2 | Japan | 190 |
| 2 | South Korea | 190 |
| 3 | Denmark | 189 |
| 3 | Finland | 189 |
| 3 | France | 189 |
| 3 | Germany | 189 |
| 3 | Ireland | 189 |
| 3 | Italy | 189 |
| 3 | Spain | 189 |
| 4 | Austria | 188 |
| 4 | Belgium | 188 |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 188 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 188 |
| 4 | Norway | 188 |
| 4 | Portugal | 188 |
| 4 | Sweden | 188 |
| 5 | Greece | 187 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 187 |
| 5 | Switzerland | 187 |