From 1 to 10: Inside the 20-year status decline of the American passport

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN

(CNN) — In 2006, a United States passport was the ultimate ticket to the world, offering its citizens a level of global access matched only by two other nations: Denmark and Finland.

What a difference 20 years makes. As the Henley Passport Index reveals in its newly released 20th-anniversary report, the global ranking of travel freedom now looks completely different.

The index, which monitors the travel freedoms offered by passports around the world based on the number of destinations their holders can visit visa-free or visa-on-demand, shows that US travel documents are no longer among the most powerful.

Today the United States is in 10th position but, because Henley counts multiple countries with the same score as a single spot in its standings, in reality that means 36 countries are ranked ahead of it.

Denmark and Finland are now at No. 4, behind five other countries.

“Twenty years of data show that passport power is one of the clearest expressions of a country’s geopolitical capital,” said Christian H. Kaelin, chair of the London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners and creator of the Henley Passport Index.

“The world’s strongest passports belong to nations that other countries want as partners — for trade, investment, security, or cooperation. Mobility is ultimately a measure of the value other countries place on their relationship with you.”

Geopolitical capital

The world’s “most powerful” passport of July 2026 is Singapore’s, which lets its holders breeze visa-free into 192 destinations worldwide, 70 more than was possible in 2006.

The United Arab Emirates, however, is the biggest success story in the ranking, both for 2026 and for its meteoric rise throughout the 21st century.

The finance and tourism hub has climbed the leaderboard this year to No. 2, where it holds the ranking alongside the East Asian countries of Japan and South Korea. Citizens of all three countries enjoy visa-free access to a total of 188 destinations worldwide.

Compared to two decades ago, that’s an addition of 60 destinations for Japan, 73 more for South Korea, and an astounding 153 new destinations for the UAE.

The No. 3 spot is held by Sweden, with a score of 187. Back in 2006, it was the No. 2 passport in the world, with a score of 129.

The No. 4 spot for July 2026 is shared by Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Spain (all with a score of 186).

Malta has climbed up to a score of 185, putting it in the No. 5 spot alongside Austria, Greece, Portugal and Switzerland. Back in 2006, Malta was outside the top 10, in 11th position on the ranking.

Europe’s high climbers

At No. 6, we have Hungary (up from No. 19 in 2006), Poland (up from No.16 in 2006) and the United Kingdom (down from No.3 in 2006).

Eight countries are in position No. 7: Latvia (up from No.26 in 2006), Slovakia (up from No.22 in 2006), Czech Republic (up from No. 21 in 2006), Slovenia (up from No. 17 in 2006), Australia and Malaysia (both up from No.9 in 2006) and Canada and New Zealand (both down from No. 6 in 2006).

Position No. 8 is held by a couple of European high-climbers, which have recovered well from turbulent 20th-century histories: Croatia (which has risen 20 places in 20 years) and Estonia (which has risen 18).

At No. 9, Lithuania has climbed 15 places in two decades and Liechtenstein has climbed one.

While the United States is in joint 10th position, alongside Iceland, it now has visa-free access to 180 destinations worldwide — which is a significant increase on the 130 destinations open to its passport holders in 2006.

Mobility gap

In the past 20 years, the gap between the world’s most and least mobile citizens has widened sharply, the report notes. There is a 118-destination gap between Singapore, at the top of the index, and Afghanistan, which was at the bottom of the index in 2006 and remains there today.

Two decades ago, Afghanistan had visa-free access to just 12 destinations, a number it has doubled to 22 destinations today.

Bolivia (at No.77) is the only passport in the world to have recorded a net loss in visa-free access over the past two decades, reducing its score by six destinations. Every other passport has improved in global mobility.

The Henley & Partners report draws comparison between its own rankings and the Global Peace Index, which also marks its 20th edition this year. According to the index from the Institute for Economics & Peace, the world is experiencing the highest number of state-based conflicts since World War II and global peacefulness has been declining for 12 consecutive years.

Peace and power

Henley & Partners says its new analysis comparing the two indexes reveals a strong positive relationship between peacefulness and passport power.

“Many of the world’s most peaceful countries also hold the world’s strongest passports,” its report notes. Singapore ranks eighth on the Global Peace Index and first on the Henley Passport Index, “while Japan, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Czechia, and Malaysia all feature among the global leaders on both indices.”

Then there are the statistical outliers, such as the United States (No.10 on the Henley Passport Index and 134th on the Global Peace Index) and Israel (No. 18 on the Henley Passport Index and 149th on the Global Peace Index).

Their positions reflect decades of accumulated diplomatic capital, geopolitical influence, economic importance, and international confidence in the integrity of their institutions and travel documents,” says the Henley & Partners report.

“At a time when tensions with Iran and instability across the Middle East once again dominate headlines, their mobility strength illustrates that passport power is shaped by far more than peacefulness alone.”

Other indexes

The Henley list is one of several indexes created by financial firms to rank global passports according to the access they provide to their citizens.

Arton Capital’s Passport Index takes into consideration the passports of 193 United Nations member countries and six territories — Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, Kosovo, the Palestinian territories and the Vatican. Territories annexed to other countries are excluded.

It’s also updated in real-time throughout the year and its data is gathered by close monitoring of individual governments’ portals.

Arton’s Global Passport Power Rank 2026 puts the United Arab Emirates in the top spot, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 182. Second place is held by France and Spain, each with a score of 175.

The world’s most powerful passports for 2026

• Singapore (192 destinations)
• Japan, South Korea, United Arab Emirates (188)
• Sweden (187)
• Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain (186)
• Austria, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Switzerland (185)
• Hungary, Poland, United Kingdom (184)
• Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Latvia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Slovakia, Slovenia (183)
• Croatia, Estonia (182)
• Liechtenstein, Lithuania (181)
• Iceland, United States (180)

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