Followed by USA, UAE stands 10th in the prestigious Henley Passport Index
The UAE is the first and only Arab state to ever make it into the upper echelons of the prestigious Henley Passport Index for the second time in a row.
“The UAE is one of the biggest climbers on the index over the past decade, having secured access to an additional 72 destinations since 2015, enabling it to climb 32 places to 10th spot with visa-free access to 185 destinations worldwide,” Henley and Partners (Henley), an international investment migration advisory firm, said while unveiling the 2025 Henley Passport Index on Wednesday.
The UAE has snagged the 10th position on the prestigious list. It is followed by the USA and Estonia, which occupy the ninth spot among the world’s most powerful passports.The UAE shares the 10th spot with Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia.
Last year, the UAE ranked ninth with visa-free access to 185 countries. The Index ranks the world’s 199 passports according to the number of destinations they can access visa-free and is based on exclusive Timatic data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Top 10 countries
Singapore and Japan broke away from the six countries that shared the top spot last year to secure gold and silver, respectively.
Singapore reclaimed its crown as the most powerful passport in the world, with visa-free access to 195 out of 227 destinations worldwide. Japan was runner-up with a score of 193, but it was still ahead of the rest after it regained visa-free access to neighboring China for the first time since pandemic-induced lockdowns.
Several EU member states—France, Germany, Italy, and Spain—dropped two places in the ranking to third position. They are joined by Finland and South Korea, which each lost a place over the past 12 months and now have access to 192 destinations with no prior visa required.
Here is a list of the world’s most powerful passports in 2025:
- Singapore – 195 destinations
- Japan – 193 destinations
- France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Finland, South Korea – 192 destinations
- Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden – 191 destinations
- Belgium, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, United Kingdom – 190 destinations
- Australia – 189 destinations
- Canada – 188 destinations
- United States – 186 destinations
- United Arab Emirates – 185 destinations
US and UK passports fall
Only 22 of the world’s 199 passports have fallen down the Henley Passport Index ranking over the past decade. The US is the second-biggest faller between 2015 and 2025 after Venezuela, plummeting seven places from 2nd to its current 9th position. Vanuatu is the third-biggest faller, losing six places from 48th to 54th, followed by the British passport, which was top of the Index in 2015 but now sits in 5th place. Completing the Top 5 losers list is Canada, which dropped three ranks over the past decade from 4th to its current 7th place.
Source: gulfnews